Earlier this year, Black Midi, (who Montrealers will remember from their 2023 participation in the FIJM programming), confirmed their breakup. However, those who found this news particularly disappointing could take solace in the fact that Geordie Greep, the band’s former frontman, wasted almost no time in announcing a solo album which he boldly titled “The New Sound.” Prior to October 4th, we had only the single “Holy, Holy” to help us speculate how much of a new sound the rest of the album would truly be. The single was certainly a departure from Black Midi’s post-punk and prog sensibilities but then again, one can never know what to expect from an eccentric like Greep. Since its release, I think I’ve finally organized my thoughts on Greep’s latest offering and believe that he has achieved a partially new sound.
This album, to my ears, is a heterogeneous mix of 70s style jazz-fusion, funk, prog, Latin, post-rock, and even musical theater, complete with ironic lyrics and epic stories. There are a multitude of influences and ideas bouncing off of each other in this album, and it all comes together like a nice salad. Having said that, I feel like Black Midi’s Cavalcade (2021) and Hellfire (2022) achieved very similar feats in terms of taming a wild eclecticism. I think this goes to show how much of an influence Greep had on the writing of his former band; (even the intros to “Holy, Holy” and “John L” are humorously similar to each other).
Much of the song writing seems very familiar, in other words. “Motorbike,” for example, fits firmly in the mold of frantic English post-rock revival music which includes bands like Horsey, Black Country New Road, Black Midi, and others. Hardly a surprise considering Seth Evans, the co-writer of the song, has been a strong presence in that scene for years. And if that wasn’t enough, Greep has included “The Magician” on this album; a song which his former band used to play live. As such “The New Sound” isn’t exactly a misnomer, (Black Midi seldom, if ever, used Latin and funk influences to extent seen here), but nor is it fully delivering on its promise.
I would say the most refreshing elements in this album come from the Latin elements in the way of congas, bongos, triangle, and pandeiro songs like “Terra,” “The New Sound,” and “Bongo Season.” These selections harken back to artists like Jaco Pastorius or Chick Corea at times and serve as the biggest departure from anything Black Midi related.
All told, I believe this album to be well executed, well composed, well produced, but not exactly dissimilar to what Greep has done in the past with Black Midi. We should, however, probably afford him more time to redefine himself as he moves into this next phase of his music; whatever that may look like.
