While newer phenomenons in the pop music world, like Charli XCX’s Brat Summer and Chappell Roan, were quickly and loudly dominating the airwaves this summer, John Cale quietly released his second album in two years. Dubbed POPtical Illusion—a follow-up to the gothic-tinged Mercy, which was the album that signaled his return from a decade-long hiatus—this batch of songs is more playful and dare I say, hopeful than Mercy. Cale, at the ripe age of 82, sounds like he is having the time of his life composing the Britpop dance track “Davies and Wales.” He’s always got something to say and shifts his hypnotic musing voice from stern to gleeful and wonder.
To be completely honest, if you’re anything like me, you don’t revel in the work of John Cale for his lyrics (except for maybe his old work like Fear or Paris 1919,) but the way he makes his voice another instrument to add to his cavalcade of tricks. His musical M.O. has always been to make a genre we as listeners think we know everything about and add his own experimental flourish. Just listen to the outro of “Calling You Out,” and truly tell me you know, musically, what is going on. His songs always dive into the realm of confusion but in an irresistible way. It’s like staring at a canvas coated in layers of paint and pulling them apart to reveal another work of art. Instead of paint, Cale uses his own weird take on hip-hop beats, synthesizers, and other dreamy instrumentation.
“How We See the Light,” offers one of the strongest and memorable choruses since “Paris 1919,” and it takes decades and decades of experimentation and expertise to achieve that power. It’s songs like that I will be resisting for days to come. Then we have the “Shark-Shark,” which feels like it could be a deep-cut modern Velvet Underground track, next to the ridiculously named Eno-tinged track “Funkball the Brewster,” which kicks off the more straight electronic mixed with airy vocals portion of the album. One last mention has to be the harpsichord lines paired with the synth strings in “Laughing in My Sleep,” just gorgeous.
As said before, this outing is more flowery than the darkened Mercy, and while Mercy is much more my speed, POPtical Illusion is much more interesting and creative than a lot of music that has dropped this year.
