Like most bands, Fagan started by releasing a number of small releases, which in turn aroused the interest of small, but dedicated fan base. And like most other bands, Fagan's name was attached to the likes of much bigger, more renound artists of the genre. Being a Trip Hop group, Portishead was the name people used to describe Fagan's sound. This is setting the expectation bar pretty high, but Fagan have definately coped. Together, the duo comprising of Dominic Vincent and Damien Sutton has produced a debut album that
almost achieves the greatness of Portishead. This album is called, Shipping Secrets.
NB: The album actually features 15 different session musicians, but I'll be darned if I can find out who they are. Sorry.
Centred is the perfect way for this album to open. Danish vocalist Lazenbo's (I think) cries of "Is there anything out there?" are the first thing you'll hear. It sets the mood for a sad, lonely track, with a bass drum echoing like thunder pounding slowly through the background. There's quite a lot going on here actually, as you'll find when you try to keep track of what the strings/piano/trumpet are doing. Everything rises to slow, steady climax that seems to end just a little to quickly.
Enter the Piano of the albums first single,
Dante. It's slow, and relaxing before Drums and Bass enter with vocals. Suddenly the song is much more upbeat, with a nice grooving bassline forming the basis of the verse. The Violin begins rise, and a mans voice enters. His vocals are layered over each other, before he performs the second verse in a style that I'm having trouble describing. A kind of blend of a rapping and singing. Dante ends with nice crescendo, and was a perfect choice for a single. Beautiful song.
All That Grows, Grows So Wild is less dynamic than the previous two tracks. It's based around acoustically strummed chords, with samples rising & fading constantly throughout. Musically, as the song gains more depth, the acoustic guitar becomes less apparent, as your mind begins to focus on the rising power of Lazenbo's vocals, and the entry of a second, more powerful guitar.
Again, the acoustic guitar opens another song. This time,
Favours. For the first minute or so, Favours consists of only the man, his guitar and a couple of samples. The volume rises a little as more strings enter, along with some very distance percussion. Everything is very relaxing, calm if you will. The first hint of something more interesting comes when some of the vocals are echoed, and the chorus is played over again. Things take an electronic twist at this point, breaking down to merely a collection of noises. Everything re-enters shortly after, in an attempt to build to a climatic kind of ending. Sadly, this is one of the few songs where Fagan don't managed to pull it off.
Lollie Jar is probably the simplest song from
Shipping Secrets. A woman credited as R. Hart uses that sad, lonely voice again to sing about being left alone when most in need. The slow, sparse piano combined with the long, slow notes from the cello suit the songs theme well.
Shipping Secrets, the albums title track, begins to bring back some of the beauty seen within the first 3 tracks. The male vocals are back, accompanied again by the Piano. It doesn't take long for the song to take a more upbeat turn, with Guitars, Drums and Bass entering. The chorus here is really good. After around 2 minutes, the song breaks down to another collection of samples. The piano remains though, giving a kind of spaced out vibe to everything. There's also a mild static running through, along with a kind of skipping. Reminds me of playing a really old record a little. This develops for around two minutes before things return to normal for the second half of the song. It's so powerful compared to what has been heard in the previous tracks. It kind of hit's you in the same way Track 8 does on Sigur Ros's ( ).
I nearly thought
Aging Against The World was a cover when I heard the first line, although I don't know the same of the song it reminds me off. After that line though, the song is definately and original. Lazenbo is on vocals again, singing softly over an acoustic guitar. After the first minute, a percussion sounding sample enters, along with a combination of cello, violin and piano. The piano takes some really nice leads during song, kind of floating in a mix of the womans vocals. Some say this album shows elements of Björk, and although I've never heard Björk, I imagine this is what it must sound like.
The Beautiful Mundane was another track the Fagan had released previously as a single, and I can see why. It's another of the albums highlights. It's got a percussive based beat, with more of the rising/fading samples. The same guy from Dante does another duet, but this time with a different woman. The two different vocals styles compliment each other very well. An electronic kind of distortion enters eventually, making the song a heavier style of Trip Hop for it's latter half. The song kind of took me by surprise when it ended. The violin seems to pop up out of nowhere, although it had been playing the whole time. There's just numerous other things happening that will draw your attention away from it.
Seamlessness opens with what could initially be a very dark, bassy beat. It's doesn't turn out to be as dark as expected though, but it's still has a brooding kind of feel to it. The piano contrasts this nicely, playing a higher rythym. By the songs half way mark, it's risen into a much larger sound. There's even a point where a guitar 'solo' could enter, but instead things decline in intesity, only for it to rise again for the songs ending.
Brief Candles is another of the simpler tracks, featuring only the piano and a man doing vocals, which are themed around the sun and the moon. It's only a short track, and for that I'm thankful. It's not bad, by any means, but it's Fagan's fuller sound that I really appreciate.
Rose Coloured Lips is the song on the album that reminds me of Portishead the most. It's slow, with very deep basslines. It's actually kind of Jazzy, with the combination of Piano and Trumpets. The woman doing vocals performs them in that same kind of seductive manner as Beth Gibbons. Good song really, although it might end up being labelled as a Portishead rip off.
The albums closer,
All Of Us Are Ordinary, is not the way I wanted the album to end. Instead of sending the listen off in a massive, sweeping soundscape like desired, Fagan choose to use a slow, blandist track to finish on. There's a static throughout it, with a small amount of acoustic guitar, and some sampled stuff. The sampled stuff kind of reminds me Radiohead's No Surprises a little. Not in the way it's played, but just the tone of it. Disappointing way to end a good album, really.
Overall, the album has some real highs, but for each of these highs, as beautiful as they are, there tends to be a mediocore moment to bring you back to reality. Of the 12 songs, I noticed a slight pattern as to the longs I love, and those that I'm not so fond of. It runs in groups of 3 from the beginning. 3 Amazing. 3 Average. 3 Amazing. 3 Average. If Fagan had stuck to the fuller sound, this album could have been up there with the best of them. It's sad to see it spoiled by a couple of average song. It does however, leave Fagan at quite a turning point, where they can go on to be great, or they can be forgotten.
