John Cale ‎– Poptical Illusion (w/limited 7″)

“A bit over ten years separated John Cale’s 2012 album Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood and his next LP of original material, 2023’s Mercy. Chalk it up to a more dedicated creative focus or simply momentum, but a mere 18 months passed before Cale delivered his follow-up to Mercy, 2024’s Poptical Illusion. As the title suggests, Poptical Illusion is a bit more approachable than the dark, forbidding tone of Mercy. While the arrangements are largely built around electronics, in terms of melodies, the songs recall the more graceful tone of albums like 1970’s Vintage Violence and 1973’s Paris 1919, and the material has a warmth missing from much of Cale’s catalog, even if the performances on tracks like “I’m Angry” and “Edge of Reason” are nearly as spare as those on 1982’s brilliant but harrowing Music for a New Society, and the rhythmic chatter of “Company Commander” suggests a dance track without the central pulse that would make it user-friendly. Mercy was an often mournful work, full of damaged lives in a world succumbing to its own chaos; Poptical Illusion isn’t as heavily invested in its clouds of ambient sound and doomstruck navel-gazing (and it doesn’t feature a raft of guest stars, with Cale handling most of the instrumental work himself), and the observations are more personal than political. However, just as Mercy found Cale sounding fully engaged in new music after a long period of working with others or examining his past, Poptical Illusion is full of ideas and energy, perhaps not the work of a man full of hope but certainly one with plenty to say. At the age of 82, Cale’s music is fresh and contemporary in a way very few of his peers can manage, making use of the seemingly endless palate of electronic sounds in a way that engages the head and the heart, and even the darkest selections here display a bold, uncompromising humanity that turns his pessimism into a rage against the dying of the light. He is also in fine voice, singing with a force and control that’s as flexible as it was 50 years ago. John Cale may be a respected elder statesman of adventurous music that explores the nexus of rock and art, but on Poptical Illusion he sounds like a contemporary artist bubbling over with ideas and the will to execute them.” – allmusic.com

Label: Double Six – DS178LP

Format: Vinyl, 2xLP, Album, Pink & Mint Vinyl w/7″

Country: Worldwide

Released: 2024

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