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NME Review: Midnight Skies Wave goodbye to overblown lyrics of aliens, and say hello to the world of dreams.
Although it might seem impossible now, Infinite’s debut album ‘Blue Nebula’ wasn’t expected to be a success. Hell, even frontman Eric Quillington claimed to have hidden in a hotel room ‘out of shame’ the day the album was released. Filled with dark and spacey lyrics about Greek gods and omniscient aliens, every single song screamed of overblown pretension. But, Infinite has always seemed to rely on miracles, and the weeks following the album’s release was no exception; critics and fellow musicians both praised Blue Nebula to the highest degree, and the album landed the fledging young band a spot on Suburban Sunrise’s ‘Circus Tour’. In an accurate term wonderfully and terribly cliché; Infinite had literally become an overnight sensation. This success, however, bears an awkward question. Where do you go from here?
For a time, it seemed like the trio didn’t have an answer. Three singles with sub-par B-Sides (aside from Supernova’s foreshadowing ‘Collision) and a half-baked live EP did nothing to improve on the media’s waning interest in the band. Although the members of Infinite repeatedly swore that they sought to break all stereotypes associated with rock bands, their drummer Greg Oldson was still involved in an alcohol-induced car accident. Like every overnight sensation before them, Infinite was on the verge of fading out as a one-hit wonder. Then a second miracle happened; the band’s new single ‘Problems with Pluto’ and the apparently played-out Supernova claimed the top two spots of the Top 20 for two consecutive weeks.
Why the history lesson? Because you need to know these facts to listen to Midnight Skies, an album that represents a musical step forward for the band, while paradoxically ignoring the style of music that made them famous in the first place. Quillington’s comments that the album would be ‘much happier and joyous’ than Blue Nebula caused a riot of disapproval amongst fans, which is never a good thing for a band with such a strong cult-following as Infinite. In the end, however, this was the right choice; Infinite grows up with a bang on their sophomore album, and all the tiresome themes of teenage angst are swept aside.
The newfound direction is immediately apparent on the first track, ‘Prelude to a Dream’. A soft piano introduction, the echoing lyrics in the background pay their dues to the band’s past, as well as saying goodbye to it. This intro fits the mood perfectly for the ambient sounds on display, and segues perfectly into the aforementioned ‘Problems with Pluto’. The happier tone that Quillington mentioned is on display in the beautiful acoustic track ‘Falling from the Sky’, where the singer describes a lucid dream of a perfect world.
If it may seem odd that the self-titled ‘king of whining’ is now singing songs in the tone of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, don’t fret. This album has its share of darker moments. In many ways, the shadows are still overwhelming when compared to the daylight, but the mix is more evenly set. The only times the album comes close to the themes found on Blue Nebula are the songs ‘Lucky’ (a cheerful number about a comatose, but brain-active, patient trying to convince himself how lucky he is for not being dead) and ‘Out of Focus’ (Quillington’s own self-parody of the happier songs on this album; it describes a blind-man describing how his handicap is a blessing). Are these songs pushing the envelope a little too far? Yes. Will they turn away the die-hard fans of Infinite? Probably not. They are Quillington’s own attempt to break the mythology and media-worship surrounding the band, and work perfectly in their own right.
Of course, everything ever written by this band pays an obsessive amount of detail to the singer. I myself am guilty of this fact, but most articles and reviews of the band have the word ‘Quillington’ written about three times as much as ‘Infinite’. While it might’ve been fair on the band’s first album (Quillington wrote the lyrics and music to practically every song, while the only notable contribution from the other members was Matt Robert’s bass solo ‘0.9 Pelnav’), it is extremely unjust in regards to their second album. Just by looking at the credits, it’s apparent that Greg Oldson made his impact known; seven out of the 13 songs owe their melody to him. While Quillington is still in charge of the lyrics to almost every song, Oldson has a solo spot of unbridled brilliance towards the end. The industrial-styled ‘Strobe’, which is both sung and written by the drummer, is a standout amongst the album, and shows the strides of talent Oldson is making. While Quillington and Oldson seem to be forming their own version of the Lennon/McCartney duo, it’s sad that Matt Roberts is still left out; his only time to shine is the bass-solo Stream of Consciousness, which seems to stick a little too closely to the formula of 0.9 Pelnav.
This is Infinite so the concepts of the album make it stronger as a whole than in separate song-listenings. While Blue Nebula was about the cycle of depression, Midnight Skies is about the world of dreams. ‘Falling from the Sky’ describes the concept of the first half of the album perfectly; the unnamed narrator has a lucid dream, where he creates a perfect world inside his own head. But, then he wakes up after it becomes a nightmare, and the album becomes much less interesting. The ambient and electronic first half gives way to the ‘reality’ side of the songs, which take their influence from heavy metal and more traditional-sounding music. These songs deal with the harsh realities of life, and can get a little grating at times (especially when compared to the experimental first half). Even so, there’s a sense that it’s building to something. The payoff is worth the inferior second half; the final song, ‘Another Sunset’, is a beautifully intimate conclusion.
One question will be constantly asked by fans; is this an ultimately superior album to ‘Blue Nebula’? The unfortunate answer is ‘no’. Infinite’s first album was damn-near perfect, with almost no faults to it at all. In fact, the thing was so fucking good that the order of the tracks created a mood of slipping sanity. Midnight Skies, however, has quite a few blemishes; the penultimate track Hyperactive/Regenerate takes things a little too far, and rips off the work of Muse in incredibly obvious ways. It also fails to deliver to Quillington’s promise of an album completely different than Blue Nebula. Midnight Skies is more of the same, but with a deeper and more matured delivary.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Quillington, Oldson, and Roberts are still doing what they do best; deep and sophisticated songs with a huge amount of mystique. In fact, the mysterious and open ended meanings will give rise to an infinite (pardon the pun) amount of debate; “is Another Sunset really about falling asleep, or something more along the lines of suicide?” In the end, even these obsessive questions by fans won’t diminish the quality of this album, and it more than lives up to the hype. Midnight Skies will most likely give Infinite a leap as strong as the one resulting from Blue Nebula; while their first album gave them enormous respect from musicians and critics, their sophomore album will give them the permanent respect of their fans.Recommended Tracks:
Problems with Pluto
Falling from the Sky
The Infinity Delusion
How to Disturb and Alienate Others
Strobe
Another Sunset
9 out of 10 (OOC: This'll be the first review, and the second one will be up later this week. It will be much less positive than this one, because I don't want to seem like I'm doing nothing but giving myself praise.)Edited by user 03 November 2010 12:14:31(UTC)
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Kid Anything- Indie/Britpop/Shoegaze; influenced by Sigur Ros, XXYYXX, Kanye West, Blur, Oasis (Bringing together an eclectic group of influences, Ulysses' songs are sung with carefree abandon by Nick Junk) Kurt Ulysses - Songwriter, Guitarist, Backup Vocalist Nick Junk - Vocals, Mojo Infinite- Alternative/Experimental Rock; influenced by Muse, Radiohead, and The Beatles (Known best for their experimental music and their frontman's eccentric behavior, the band disbanded after Eric Quillington's death to pursue solo careers or, in Matt Robert's case, peace of mind. Infinite released four albums over the course of their career; Blue Nebula, Midnight Skies, Insomnia, and Dancing about Architecture.) Eric Quillington (Deceased) - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Piano, Primary Lyricist Matt Roberts - Bass Greg Oldson - Drums, Backup Vocals, Secondary Lyricist Amelia Florentine - Keyboards, Piano, Lyricist, Backup Vocals "When asked 'how do you write?' I invariably answer, 'one word at a time', and this answer is invariably dismissed. But that's all it is. It sounds too simple to be true, but consider the Great Wall of China, if you will: one stone at a time, man. That's all. One stone at a time. But I've read you can see that motherfucker from space without a telescope." - Stephen King |
