Review Summary: If These Walls Could Talk
Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales is one of those pairings that initially seems bizarre, but the more you think about it, the more and more it starts to make sense. Checking both of their 'Enfant Terrible' Top Trumps power ratings I see Jarvis gets a 10/10 under the 'Big Brass Balls' score for mooning Michael Jackson at the Brits. Chilly's highest ranking is under the category 'You What?', a solid 9/10 for releasing 'The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales', an album of Eminem style rapping backed by classical instrumentation and zero beats. Impressive scores lads. Again, musically you'd think there's little overlap, only you get the sneaky feeling Jarvis has been looking for an escape route from indie pop for a while now; never the most conventional of singers, why not back the man with something more minimal, though admittedly no less kitsch.
Well, truth be told this album is significantly more kitsch than anything either artist has worked on before; a concept album about the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood that not only pays for a room, but gets straight down to running itself a hot bath and soaking in all the luxury, breathing in the heady atmosphere. Pleasingly 'Room 29' feels like one of those old school releases where a lot of care has been put into the overall package with the accompanying inlay artwork and lyric sheet certainly worth perusing in their own right too. This being a concept album that references genuine characters from the hotel's illustrious history it demands that little bit of extra investment from the listener to really pay attention to the stories being told. Sure it's a lyrically dense affair and some could find that off-putting, but there's just something about Jarvis as a narrator that carries you through; his voice not only possesses the required dash of charisma but his spirited performance also delivers a large dollop of humour on the side.
He alternates here between spoken word and speak-singing and really you miss nothing from him not attempting his (slightly) more conventional singing. You get the feeling the soundtrack and spoken word material by the Tindersticks might have been a reference for him, in particular his delivery does bear a resemblance to Stuart Staple's style on a song like 'Chocolate' from 'The Something Rain'. Chilly's piano playing ranges here between tasteful ballads and cheesy, frilly Hollywood referencing extravaganzas. This is effectively a soundtrack to a film/documentary that could have been, and two of his most impressive melodies are repeated as 'themes' later in the album. In addition, spoken word recordings and sound effects from the hotel are peppered here and there to help add to a bit more character and authenticity.
The writing here is highly consistent which is somewhat surprising considering the strict adherence to the central conceptual conceit, though that's not to say there aren't still a few particularly strong songs included among the tracklist. 'Tearjerker' is a perfect sad sacks vehicle for Jarvis who gets to deliver ideal lines like 'you don't need a girlfriend, you need a social worker', and does so with aplomb. The title track is even more somber and alternates between a sung chorus and stunning spoken word verses; it also works as a perfect intro, setting up the key strokes of the stories to come. The undoubted centrepiece is 'A Trick of the Light' which cuts to the heart of the movie obsessive, the man who falls in love with the silver screen but whose own life withers in comparison to all the romance he watches from a step removed. A tonally impressive composition, it flips from creepiness to desperation to enrapture at will. Lines like 'but windows are for looking through not checking your reflection' or 'I lost my wife...but that's Hollywood' are perfect in their deliberate hamminess.
This is likely to end up one of the most 'acquired taste' releases of 2017 but if it captures your imagination you'll no doubt be crossing your fingers this collaboration doesn't prove a one off. A dose of double trouble has rarely sounded better.
