The The
Ensoulment

Release Date: 09/06/2024 | Tracklist

For those who’ve followed Matt Johnson’s career through the comparative ‘wilderness years’ of his soundtrack work and other more low-key musical output (that spanned a whopping 25 years lest we forget) there’ve been clues that he’d retreated from the limelight for reasons of mental health and some sort of an artistic ‘crisis of confidence’. The spoken word release ‘The Inertia Variations’ in particular almost served as a cry for help and an apology for inactivity all at once; yes it was darkly humorous and knowing, but there was an element of TMI and uncomfortable intimacy too. I have to admit, with all my respect for Johnson it was a funk I couldn’t see him shaking off, he seemed to have carved out a little niche and appeared all too comfortable retreating early from the fight. As is often the case with such things, it was effectively a ‘brush with death’ that finally sparked that need to ‘make a mark’ back into action; you see, for MJ Covid was more than just a distressing inconvenience, it could have proved a fatal one. Throat surgery came to the rescue though it nearly cost him his voice…and such an experience isn’t going to be easily forgotten.

‘Cognitive Dissident’, the lead single and opener here, is a pitch perfect note to return on and despite it no doubt having been written a fair time before its release, it made for an ideal soundtrack to the recent UK election and ensuing riots. The song channels the level of confusion, apathy and disillusionment the populace of Britain must be experiencing now...actually this is selling the lyrics short, more than that they paint a picture of forces that are downright sinister and invasive; you’ve just entered a shadowy and deceptive world…only this isn’t supposed to be a portrait of a fictional dystopia but how Johnson sees things as he strolls the streets, or whenever he doomscrolls the BBC website. As with all the tracks here this opener transitions seamlessly into the next, in this case that's the less claustrophobic but no less painful nostalgia piece ‘Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake’. The title refers to a spot Johnson has come to know as a refuge, an unchanging island in a chaotic world; the music also feels mostly unchanged since the withering 1986 ‘state of the nation address’ ‘Heartland’, with it boasting a similarly toned chorus backed by familiar sounding female vocals. In terms of the lyrics, well the country that was ‘sick, sad, and confused’ has, uh, ‘evolved’ into a ‘greedy, unpleasant land’ that ‘wraps itself in a flag, pretending its freedom – a dictatorship in drag’, so if anything things have fallen further in an entirely predictable manner. Of course there must be valid counter arguments to this viewpoint, though at this stage it feels hard work to even begin to entertain them, so Johnson surely gets a pass.

Most of the album follows this pattern of switching between intense political diatribes and more personal reflections, which is close to an established The The trademark, but stands out here more than ever. Perhaps this is because Johnson sounds positively seething at times on the former, whilst on the latter you can hear the years on that voice and you realise this is an older singer now, one who’s been through that much more personal heartache. The political songs are naturally the big statements, with ‘Kissing the Ring of Potus’ dissecting the role of the US in global politics (you’ll be surprised to hear he ’s not entirely positive in his assessment) and ‘I Hope You Remember…’ musing over the influence of AI on the very way we’ll think in the near future. The more personal and ‘Dusk’-like material is still mostly as strong, with that established nocturnal/noir The The backdrop serving ‘I Want to Wake Up With You’ well, while the almost Tindersticks-esque soulful blues of ‘Risin Above the Need’ works a bit like a tamer ‘Dogs of Lust’. Worthy of particular scrutiny is the ultimate nostalgia piece of the set ‘Down By the Frozen River’, a shockingly intimate portrait of Johnson as a young man that reveals a great deal about his mindset and how he interprets his own life; claiming that dropping out of education as the only way he could escape indoctrination and fulfil his destiny is a strong statement, whether this is a justified stance or just a sort of rose tinted revisionism is up for the listener to determine.

The track that unites the political with the personal to the greatest extent is also the most disturbing one. ‘Linoleum Smooth to the Stockinged Foot’ made for a bizarre choice of second single from the album, but in the context of ‘Ensoulment’ itself it makes perfect sense; I’ve read opinions that this album doesn’t reach a peak of emotional resonance or musical impact, but this song is that moment however unconventional it may seem in the role. Effectively it plays out like Radiohead’s ‘The National Anthem’ reimagined for the darkest hours of the Covid crisis and everything Johnson learnt composing soundtrack music is poured into the atmosphere of dread that makes up the musical backdrop here. The creepy hospital ward ambience is uncanny, but then the ratcheting intensity of the vocals is horrifying, Johnson’s vantage from his sickbed affording him the same ‘peak behind the curtain’ we all witnessed at this time. As a pitiful horn tries to rally the nation things fall apart, ‘quislings and shills’ making life and death calls while ‘demonic’ elites divide and rule behind the scenes. Added together this all makes for one of the most uncomfortable but fascinating The The songs and the biggest song writing risk on an album that arguably could have benefitted from including a few more.

Despite all the darkness and despair ‘Ensoulment’ registers as a comforting listen overall and in particular the closing elegiac ‘A Rainy Day in May’, with its wordless singalong refrain and tender strings, works like a soothing balm calming our collective worries. Johnson has always known what note to finish an album on, frequently The The album closers are highlights, and it’s reassuring that happy habit has continued here. It would be hard to argue it’s the neat bow that ties up a perfect return, but encouragingly we’re still somewhere close to a ‘perfectly imperfect’ attempt; even if ‘Ensoulment’ proves to be the most substantial ‘parting statement’ Johnson ever gives us, it was well worth him coming out of that self imposed semi-exile to find his voice again.

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