Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth have such distinctive styles that it should be easy to predict what a collaboration from them might sound like. However, on Utopian Ashes, the Primal Scream frontman sets aside his band's suffocating paranoia-rock and the former Savages leader lets down her guard on lush, elegantly heartbroken duets inspired by the likes of George Jones and Tammy Wynette or Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra (in fact, one of the first songs Beth and Gillespie performed together was a cover of the latter duo's ...
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Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth have such distinctive styles that it should be easy to predict what a collaboration from them might sound like. However, on Utopian Ashes, the Primal Scream frontman sets aside his band's suffocating paranoia-rock and the former Savages leader lets down her guard on lush, elegantly heartbroken duets inspired by the likes of George Jones and Tammy Wynette or Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra (in fact, one of the first songs Beth and Gillespie performed together was a cover of the latter duo's "Some Velvet Morning"). Gillespie wrote most of the album's tale of a failing marriage, and though he takes the lead on many of its songs, Beth is an able accomplice, chiming in with chilly harmonies on the quiet despair of "English Town" and trading verses on "Remember We Were Lovers"' amber-hued memories. Utopian Ashes is at its finest when Beth's and Gillespie's voices and viewpoints get equal time, as on "Your Heart Will Always Be Broken," a tribute to the tenderness lingering in a relationship that's too bad to stay in, but too good to leave. It's particularly interesting to hear Beth use her voice melodically, since that wasn't always a priority in her other music. In the best possible way, her clipped, vibrato-laden delivery is an outlier amongst the album's smooth arrangements and Gillespie's looser performances; as good as the two sound together, the contrast between their voices embodies the differences that tear apart Utopian Ashes' husband and wife. The record's expert musicianship is another vital part of its success. Luxe strings and brass make "Chase It Down" a grand opening salvo, and members of Primal Scream and Beth's partner Johnny Hostile help Gillespie and Beth evoke styles as different as the countrypolitan gallop of "You Can Trust Me Now" and the Latin-tinged "Stones of Silence." The rare breakup album that sounds happier as it nears its end, Utopian Ashes saves some of its greatest moments of pathos for last. Beth and Gillespie echo "Some Velvet Morning"'s psychedelic magic on "We're Living a Lie," a shimmering mirage of happiness bedecked with a swirling harp and seductive tremolo guitar. Likewise, "Sunk in Reverie" closes the album with knife-twisting, air-kissing betrayal set to deceptively sunny acoustic strumming. By pushing each other out of their comfort zones, Beth and Gillespie make Utopian Ashes an unabashedly theatrical -- and consistently entertaining -- look at falling out of love. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi
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Add this copy of Utopian Ashes to cart. $17.19, new condition, Sold by Importcds rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sunrise, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Third Man Records.
Add this copy of Utopian Ashes to cart. $19.56, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2021 by Third Man Records.
Add this copy of Utopian Ashes to cart. $24.67, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2021 by Sony Music Cmg.
