SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN FOXX – WHEREVER YOU ARE

JOHN FOXX
WHEREVER YOU ARE
METAMATIC

There are many sides to John Foxx, which is why each new album is eagerly awaited to see what he will come up with next. Lately, he has used his solo albums (he does perform with the band The Maths) to explore instrumental piano music. And we have benefited greatly from his exploration, talent, writing and performing. Wherever You Are is another instalment of his piano based albums. This is not ambient, but it touches it. Foxx writes very melodic and melancholic songs that string together to form a near perfect album.

The album is sparse, and Foxx uses the silence between notes as actual notes. It is almost as if there is a breath after a passage. It is simply beautiful. “Night Vision 1”, for example, is quiet, slow, and patient. One can almost hear the notes flowing through Foxx onto the piano keyboard. The backing is beautiful and perfectly arranged. And each song evokes images. “A Swimmer In A Summer River” is the perfect title for the achingly stunning song, as one finds themselves on the bank of a river, watching, but never interfering with the performance of the swimmer.

From the opening track of the album, “When She Walked In With The Dawn”, one is prepared for an internal and mystical journey through the music. Each note hangs in the air, and the end result is songs that embrace and surround the listener in the calmest and most gentle way. The title (and last) track of the album, “Wherever You Are”, brings the programme to a melancholy end. The song has a feeling of loss, of longing and wondering. Foxx conveys all this through ever flowing music coming out of the speakers.

Wherever You Are is a lovely and bewitching album. It seems, on the surface, a simple album, but it is not. It requires serious listening as this is not background music. Rather, Wherever You Are is an album that one, if they are willing, can get lost in. Foxx has done this type of album before, and those albums are exquisite in their own rights. However, with Wherever You Are Foxx has outdone himself and produced one his finest albums in his career.

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