Artists age differently—it comes through in their work. Some turn contemplative, some opt for acceptance, some even refuse to admit they’re getting older (looking at you, Rolling Stones). On Silver Shade, famed Bauhaus vocalist and post-punk pioneer Peter Murphy reveals how he chooses to face his golden years: with an album of grand, baroque defiance you can dance to.
Produced by British veteran Youth (of Killing Joke), Murphy delivers what you’d expect from his long solo career, but in a new way. His signature baritone now carries a lived-in gravitas, making his poetic lyrics even more capital “G” Gothic. His music’s dark, pulsing beats and synths are joined by soaring guitars and occasional orchestration, expanding his palette to sound more cinematic, even operatic. It all makes the album’s subject matter—aging, art, and the impact of time on both—sound less like personal asides and more like epic proclamations. As with time itself, the album never stops moving, relentlessly propelling listeners forward even when they might want a break. It’s Murphy’s cry for raging back against the dying of the light.
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This is best illustrated on the album’s lead track, “Swoon.” A dark duet with frequent collaborator Trent Reznor, it’s an intense opener, acknowledging the coming of death with lines like, “My time to sit with the lions is soon”—while still feeling full of sexy menace. In some ways, Silver Shade feels like Murphy’s version of Bowie’s Blackstar, an idea that becomes even clearer on “Hot Roy,” a song that’s simultaneously an ode to Bowie and Mick Ronson’s influence and a remembrance of the moment Murphy evolved from fan to creator. It’s the kind of perspective that one only gains with age.
Across the first two-thirds of the album, the grander sound gives every song an epic scale, even a witty slice of synth-pop like “The Artroom Wonder” (featuring Justin Chancellor of Tool) or the Nick Cave-esque seánce “Cochita Is Lame.” As such, this portion of the album plays better as a collection of singles than as a cohesive whole. Thematically, it all works, but sonically, each song is such a meal that, back to back, the impact of Murphy’s baroque poetry starts to sound familiar rather than startling.
That is, until the final three tracks which play like a mini-suite. “Soothsayer” is a cathartic rocker, shaking the album free from its established vibes, demanding all artists to remain true to their gifts. It’s followed by the Spanish guitar and strings of “Time Waits,” briefly slowing things down to plead with (and hopefully enlighten) you, the listener. They work as a reset, so that when we return to the bold, building “Sailmaker’s Charm,” Murphy’s album has the intense, showstopping finale it deserves.Silver Shade is what we can all hope to be at 67: imperfect, maybe expected, but also loud, lively, and unapologetically ourselves. By embracing an outlook only earned by age, Peter Murphy is still finding new shades four decades into his illustrious career.
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