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Baptiste | Nothing Shines Like A Dying Heart

Special and mostly dark atmospheres.
CD, Lineair

Tekst: Norbert Pek

Publicatiedatum: 23 december 2002

The album cover perfectly describes the kind of music Baptise make. Of course, the black parts stand for the dark atmosphere of the album, which you might expect from an album called Nothing Shines Like a Dying Heart. And then the blurred red/yellow lights on the cover: warm but also threatening like fire. Baptise from West London get their influences from bands that have also put down special and mostly dark atmospheres. Throughout the album we hear the gloomy spirit embodied by Joy Division and the Velvet Underground. But each of the eight tracks reveals a specific influence: The strumming raw guitars with the vocals on the background release the ghost of the Stone Roses. The old Suede can be found on 'Living Horizontally,' and the Tindersticks way of drumming and the slow singing is present on 'Confessions of a Clumsy Man.' Baptise combines the two dark worlds: the one with the loud guitars and the soft vocals and the one of the autumn day ballads. But, still, they never reach the level of the influences mentioned above. Nevertheless, you also can't expect them to aim that high. They've done their homework and prove that they've learned the tricks, like on the Electrelane-like guitar/dance track 'Give a Man Four Walls...' Very nice. On the other hand, the attempts to give a Godspeed You Black Emperor! climax on 'Some Would Call It Drowning' and to play the ten-minute 'Tired Bodies' are unsuccessful. It's not a matter of missing a finishing touch, but it's the absence of a unique atmosphere. But they can go to the next round to work on that one.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/baptiste/nothing-shines-like-a-dying-heart/2160/
Meer Baptiste op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/baptiste