THE JOURNEY MAN
Drum N Bass, Electronic.
Metalheadz
Listening Format: CD
They say that each decade of music is influenced by the sounds from 20 years prior, as new musicians begin to express influences of the sounds they grew up with. The 90s saw a lot of throwbacks to sounds from the 70s, the 00s had a strong 80s revival with Synth-Pop having a strong resurgence, and now in the 10s, a 90s influence has started to come back around again. Rock musicians are referencing Grunge, and new musicians in Hip Hop, Metal and Electronic music are referencing the best sounds of their childhood. Of course this means that original artists from that era are having their music re-appraised and the sounds they may have pioneered are coming back full circle. Just think how many seminal 90s musicians have been making comebacks this decade: Aphex Twin, At the Drive In, Faith No More, Swans, Gas, Porter Ricks, Godflesh... And now Goldie releases his first proper full length solo album since 1998's 'Saturnreturnz'.
Goldie of course is one of the best known Drum N Bass artists, and truly a pioneer of the craft. Not only has he created some of the longest, most spacious and intellectual instrumentals in the genre, but also has produced great Pop singles such as his immortal classic 'Inner City Life'. Outside of that he crafted an entire label of similarly creative minds, pushing the sounds of beat production further than ever before. His label Metalheadz gave a home to other Drum N Bass pioneers such as Photek, Source Direct, D-Bridge and more. Goldie and the Metalheadz label became synonymous with the 90s, but didn't transition quite as well into the 00s, as newer sounds in Electronic music became popular. Will Goldie's return manage to hold relevance in 2017?
'The Journey Man' is a sprawling double disc album (much like his previous two) and is a very eclectic affair. The disc opens with a song VERY reminiscent of his classic 'Inner City Life'. 'Horizons' pulls at the same strings and motifs of his classic hit, even having vocalist Swindle deliver a rather similar vocal melody. Fortunately it works as an excellent way to suck the listener into this opus, kind of like a mission statement... Goldie's back! Fortunately it is followed by perhaps the best cut on the album and a more strikingly distinct track. 'Prism' is solid from start to finish, with beautiful spacey synths and a very hard break-beat that almost dips into 'Drukqs' era Aphex Twin style "Drill N Bass". This track is an awesome crossover to hear from Goldie. It's a very Sci-Fi feeling tune that has a brilliant catchy melody too and isn't afraid to envelop at a slow pace. The first disc as a whole is relatively accessible even though the tracks often sit above the 5 minute mark and can take their time to fully develop. The use of female soulful vocalists works as a great way to hook the listener in, such as on the excellent 'The Mirrored River' that adds in some powerful wobbling sub-bass. But when Goldie takes us in more daring instrumental zones I think the results are even more interesting. 'I Think of You' is the prime example near the end of the first disc. This jazzy cut sounds like it samples an upright bass and has a very similar vibe to his Metalheadz peer Photek. The shuffling beats on this track are some of the most intricate on the record, and Goldie continues to prove he is one of the masters when it comes to beat programming.
The first disc certainly lumped the more immediate tracks together because disc two hits the listener with even more challenging and lengthy affairs. It opens with a whopping 19 minute long journey 'Redemption', opening with harmonious atmospheric synths reminiscent of his work on his classic album 'Timeless'. At the 11 minute mark it morphs into an entirely different beast as the track becomes a Sci-Fi techno rave until its climax. 'Redemption' is one of the best tracks on the entire album and certainly the most daring. Goldie takes another left turn in the following track 'Tu Viens Avec Moi?', which the booklet explicitly states is a tribute to prolific Jazz musician Pat Metheny. This incredible chilled track verges fully into Jazz and even some clean guitars creep into the mix. 'The Ballad Celeste' brings back female vocal leads, but verges much more into Neo-Soul territory, with an escalating Hip Hop groove running through the spine of the track. The second disc of 'The Journey Man' sees Goldie verging away from Drum N Bass a lot of the time and succeeding in it. 'The River Mirrored' is a nearly identical track to 'The Mirrored River' on disc one (funnily enough), but the two being placed in the middle of each disc is actually a neat touch. 'Triangle' is one of the biggest highlights of the entire album, with a musical triangle sample leading the motif of the track, leaving the album with a serious Drum N Bass banger.
'The Journey Man' is ultimately an incredibly eclectic listen that spans far beyond the reaches of Drum N Bass. The only true misstep here is 'Castaway' which blatantly tries to sound like Prince. It comes off second rate, and stands out like a sore thumb in the tracklist. But all the other times Goldie ventures into different genres, it mostly works and feels cohesive. One of the biggest delights of this album is that around half of it is masterfully produced and arranged Drum N Bass that takes the listener back to the golden days of the genre in the 90s. But all of Goldie's ventures into Techno, Hip Hop and Jazz are perhaps even more exciting. The 2 hour opus rarely feels bogged down, because there are a lot of exciting and varied ideas happening all over the place. What is even more impressive is that Goldie has poured a lot of his own wisdom and personality into this record. The album sleeve and booklet consists of photos of Goldie from over the years, often pictured with friends. There are tracks that are clearly tributes to people who have inspired and affected him in his life, and the music really reflects this man's journey (hey that's what the title must mean eh?) Goldie has not only proven why he is one of the masters of Drum N Bass, but has dared to take risks on this massive album, and they mostly have really paid off well. There barely seemed to be any hype around this release, but it is truly one of the best comeback records of the decade. It certainly deserves to be on par with Aphex Twin's comeback record 'Syro', but sadly I don't predict a Grammy award in Goldie's future. 'The Journey Man' is a truly cohesive, intricately arranged and larger than life opus that deserves to be remembered as one of the best Electronic albums of the year. 8/10.
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