JOE JACKSON - Rain

“It always seemed to be raining while I was working on these songs, and it rained every day while we recorded them. I love rain, and I don't understand why so many people make this automatic association with something depressing. What would we do without rain?” Quite. And what would we do without Joe, a sparkling tributary of the post-punk river, so much so that we feel his absence as a glaring omission from the monumental book "Rip It Up And Start Again", the great gift that English journalist Simon Reynolds gave us on the subject.

Let's spare ourselves other digressions better suited to a different context, and instead try to understand what the lanky British songwriter has to offer us today. Sure, it's hard to live up to the expectations of those who still have milestones like "Look Sharp!" and "Night And Day" ringing in their ears, and besides, we can't expect any further surprises from a musician who has already profitably explored the territories of pop, rock, and even jazz, not to mention orchestral compositions.

And indeed "Rain" doesn't rewrite history, if anything confirming the class and craft of an artist whose passion still comes through in his songs. Today's Joe is not an author on the wane who has lost the desire to play; on the contrary, he still manages to stir up a melancholy breeze worthy of his best work, the kind that demands you turn up the volume and pay closer attention.

With the piano once again chosen as the primary instrument (guitars are completely absent), Jackson skilfully crafts rainy, aching tunes like "Invisible Man", big ballads that lead straight back to "Night And Day" ("Too Tough"), lively harmonic ups and downs ("Citizen Sane"), flawless slow numbers fit for a handkerchief ("Wasted Time", "Solo, So Low"), jazzy flourishes in Steely Dan territory ("The Uptown Train") and knowing nods to early rock 'n' roll ("King Pleasure Time", "Good Bad Boy"). All of it affirms the enthusiasm of still being here, which also shows in the follow-up to the reunion, five years ago now, of the Joe Jackson Band, the group responsible for his opening trilogy (as well as "Volume 4" in 2003), and present here almost in full on this record, cut amid the gloomy avenues of East Berlin.

"Rain" is a work that longtime admirers will have no trouble appreciating, while everyone else should be duly informed that the roads leading to Joe Jackson run through other, far brighter territory than this. But given the result achieved, we can't bring ourselves to make a tragedy of it.

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31/01/2008