If you needed any more evidence of Neil Gaiman’s awesomeness, let me introduce you to his recent collaboration with FourPlay; Signs of Life.
Being a lover of words, more accurately their poetic use, Signs of Life didn’t just grab my attention; it grabbed me by the scruff; passionately kissing me afront a crowd of awkward onlookers, before casually gliding away on the breeze; leaving me paralysed, awestruck, and unable to get its melodies and words out of my mind.
The mix of Gaiman’s poetry and story telling with FourPlays strings just worked. Each drew the other forth from the silence, like an offering to the gods containing a sense of atmosphere and completion you cannot achieve reading or listing to one without the other.
Signs of Life is a gorgeous, ground-breaking and genre-bending collaboration between an iconic author and a unique musical ensemble. Part songwriting, part poetry, part story-telling; all-encompassing, all-engaging, all beautiful.
gaiman-fourplay.com
The moment the first tracks were released I had to sample it and my inner self turned into a Salem courthouse on counts of witchcraft and blasphemy. But it’s not, it’s art! Immediately In Transit became my favourite and it was clear why it had been pushed to the front of their promotions. A tale of memories and longing, it oozes character and allure; creating cinematic images in your head of a forbidden romance.
The final release of Signs of Life was painfully awaited! I repeating those initial tracks time and time again, untiring until more were offered. Each track is uniquely thought provoking, each listen offering a fresh detail previously unheard. A picture is born with each note, dies, and then reborn anew. Even FourPlays instrumentals have brought me back for more.
Whilst I dread the flurry of ‘copycat killers’ that are likely to follow this albums success, it is my hope that this isn’t the last we will see of this genius collaboration. Perhaps a small tour?