To be clear, the third Silverlake album – Exotic Metals Ltd – has been lovingly forged from a rich seam of musical creativity and the very pig-iron of life. Resulting in a darker “industrialised” pop which has been polished to gleam like an ingot of…
“X (I should be digging for gold),” the opening track and the first single raises a tarnished martini glass to proceedings. From the 60s, “spy film” intro to the breathless singing and the electronic pulse the track is a mission statement. Yes, why are we wasting our time digging in the mud?
The sample from Ferry Across the Mersey – “Life…goes on day after day…” – in the hands of the Pacemakers was a clarion call of near-positivity. In “Drop after Drop” the refrain reflects the monotony of modern life. The added synth backdrop adds a certain piquancy; the urgent drumming suggests the churn of daily life. This track is a nugget of miserabilist joy swimming across the tide of indifference; echoing the thoughts of the tragic character of Macbeth: “Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow.”
Silverlake know their audience will not be found in the neon-lit clubs of Saturday night’s highstreet decadence. Although, they appreciate the desire to dance is as strong as Anno extreme 95. “Tower of Sunshine” is a swaggering slab of funk that will have most dancing; oblivious to the martini glass sloshing homemade sloe-gin on your tired DMs. A ray of 5 star hope.
The languid “You’re alright” is a study in poised reflection. Slow, unhurried and relaxed due to the retrospective quality of the track. However, the repetition of the title as a statement of acceptance in a relationship is both reassuring and hypnotic.
Comforting and mesmerising Sally Ann-Parker’s voice is an amalgam of defiance and vulnerability throughout the album. None more so on than on “Shutdown”. This delicately, strutting slice of orchestral-pop is a celebration of what can be achieved in a studio hidden away on an industrial estate in the Midlands. The ethereal quality of the track can surely be enhanced by looking through the legs at the bottom of a martini glass.
The piano notes at the start of “Twist” lull the listener. Part electronic ballad, part pained-soliloquy the closing track closes the past on a period of heartbreak. The sweet melancholia of the song is driven by an emotion we can all attest. Silverlake are unrepentant in mining the past for inspiration. Consequently, as Exotic Metals Ltd proves, it is worth sifting through the ore of misery and fool’s gold to discover something altogether more valuable.
The creative alloy of Silverlake is made up of Sally-Ann Parker (vocals), Tony Sherrard (bass & programming) & Robin Dallaway (guitar and keyboards) – true alchemists. From the fierce furnace of collective experience and the smelting-pot of ideas runs molten imagination. So, refill your martini glass for Exotic Metals LTD, an album Robin Dallaway is “insanely proud of” and rightly thus. Raise your martini glass but just watch out for the lethal cocktail stick. And don’t choke on the glace cherry or Silverlake may be inspired by another dark moment.
By: The Swilgate Scuttler