SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRIAN ENO – FOREVER VOICELESS

Brian Eno
FOREVER VOICELESS
Verve/UMC

Brian Eno released FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE in October of 2022. It was the first album to feature him singing in 17 years, since 2005’s Another Day on Earth which was his last vocal album. Now, he has removed the vocals and has come up with a new album FOREVER VOICELESS. And let’s be clear, it is an entirely different album. FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE is a very dark album, with very little hope or light. Eno’s lyrics are grim and yet beautiful in their own way. FOREVER VOICELESS continues in the darkness but in a very different way.

Be clear that FOREVER VOICELESS is not just an instrumental version of FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE. Rather, it is a whole new album and should be approached as such. This is Eno with his ambient sensibility and experimenting with sound. This is not his typical ambient album, far from it. It is layered and in many ways more melodic. He even changes the titles of the songs. For example, “Who Gives A Thought” becomes “A Thought”, while “Icarus Or Blériot” becomes “Who Are We”, and “We Let It In” is retitled “And Let It In”. Some are very subtle changes but it is important to Eno for the listener to approach the music as a separate entity from FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE.

Perhaps most significantly, the last track “Silence” was originally titled “Making Gardens Out Of Silence”. It was one of the most ambient songs on FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE, but here, as part of an ambient album, it is an emotional piece of music that is the perfect closer for the album. Eno is a genius when it comes to layering sound and yet maintaining silence throughout. This song is an excellent example of his ability to create a great deal of space within the sounds and music.

Eno gets some help with the album from his brother, Roger Eno, and long time collaborator Leo Abrahams, which Eno is able to layer into the overall ambient music. Marina Moore provides violin and viola for the song “Inclusion” and Jon Hopkins and Peter Chilvers contribute keyboards. Eno brings everything together to create that unmistakeable Eno sound.

FOREVER VOICELESS should be seen as the new Brian Eno ambient album, rather than a continuation or adaption of FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE. While both albums complement each other, it does stand alone. It is a bit darker than much of his ambient music, but that does not take away from the overall quality of the music and the incredible experience listening to it. Eno, once again, has produced something that stands apart from everything else being released today, even other ambient albums. He continually raises the bar and continues his search for the sound and the music. I hope he never stops the search.

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