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 The Hope Blister...smile's ok As you can tell from the band's name, The Hope Blister's new album is a rollicking collection of inspirational songs. Just kidding. The Hope Blister is the new name for the band This Mortal Coil. TMC was the side project of the record label 4AD's founder, Ivo Watts-Russell. Why did he decide to release the new album under a new name? Evidently he said some time ago that 1991's "Blood" would be TMC's last album. So he would have been lying if he released another one. So what's the new album like? First of all, the album is entirely made up of cover songs. This Mortal Coil was always fond of cover songs, but I think this is the first to consist of covers only. Songs like David Sylvian's "Let the Happiness In," Brian Eno's "Spider and I," and Gusgus's cover of Slowblow's "Is Jesus Your Pal." If you know the original songs, you'll notice that there's a trend here - quiet, introspective songs, but good ones. This trend is followed throughout "...smile's ok." I don't know all of the originals, but the versions on this album are generally very faithful renditions of the original tunes. This could be good or bad - the feel of the song hasn't been changed, but there isn't a whole lot of new stuff going on here, either. Louise Rutkowski, who sang on some of TMC's recordings, sings all of the songs found here. The feel of the album shares TMC's general mood, that of dark, ethereal atmospherics, but does not have any of the more driving instrumental tracks found on some of This Mortal Coil's releases. The least ambient part of the album comes at the end of "Spider and I," when the song devolves into feedback that still manages to be somehow melodic. It fits the song better than it might sound. If you're new to This Mortal Coil and/or The Hope Blister, I'd recommend starting with one of TMC's albums. The instrumental tracks provide a nice counterpoint to the vocal songs on those albums. But if you know This Mortal Coil, and would like to know more, "...smile's ok" is a good addition to their repertoire. -Bill |
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