David Sylvian

The secrets of the hive

“The beehive, in many societies and throughout the centuries, has represented the ideal family, the ideal group, and also a certain scale of spiritual values.

David Sylvian, September 1987, “Melody Maker”

The heavy make-up of the eccentric, fascinating dandy figure of the late Seventies, who moved from the disoriented heavy glam sounds of the early days to the refined, decadent "art rock" of the second era of Japan, then to the rarefied atmospheres of his debut solo album "Brilliant Trees" and the gorgeous sonic inlays of the double album "Gone to Earth" alongside Robert Fripp - all of this gives way to a totally stripped-down Sylvian, free of any frills, detached from the world and yet part of it at the same time.

In 1987, on "Secrets Of The Beehive" (his third solo album), David Sylvian sheds every artifice with absolute naturalness, revealing what seems to be his perfect dimension: a poet of intense evocative power with the voice of an angel, a singer-songwriter passionate about jazz and minimalist atmospheres, a creator of soundscapes who distils emotions into bright, distant nebulae.

An introverted, enigmatic personality, modest and reluctant to embrace show business, Mr. Sylvian boasts a singular artistic path in constant evolution, marked by a varied and remarkable succession of styles and musical projects, as well as by a rich and illustrious roster of collaborators (Mick Karn, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Holger Czukay, Jon Hassell, Mark Isham, Kenny Wheeler, Robert Fripp, David Torn, Phil Palmer, Danny Thompson, Wayne Braithwaite, Ronny Drayton, Bill Nelson, Mel Collins and others). In 1983, having closed out the “Japanese” chapter at the peak of its success, caught between the compromises that would have turned him into a commercial megastar and the courtship of tempting offers - among them those of Andy Warhol (who would have written lyrics for a possible further Japan album) and Ivo Watts-Russell of 4AD (who wanted him involved, at the very least, in the “This Mortal Coil” project) - David Sylvian, encouraged and assisted by Ryuichi Sakamoto, chose the harder solo path, one bound up with art and inner exploration.

Although his chameleon-like look never settled on a fixed point, his compositions gradually surfaced over the years, taking shape in an increasingly essential and refined sonic form, one that seems light years away from his early appearances with Japan (when he was dismissed as little more than a hybrid of Sylvain from the New York Dolls and Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music), but which, just two years on, starting with the third album “Quiet Life”, already hints at the style to come. Tracks such as “The Other Side of Life”, “Nightporter” and “Ghosts” quietly chart the path of the London-born artist, a journey that would find its fullest expression with “Secrets of the Beehive”.

Across its thirty-four minutes, “Secrets of the Beehive” (a title that in itself hints at the poetic qualities the album exudes) emerges like a painting steeped in largely dark tones, rich in nuance and strongly illuminated by the intense shafts of light scattered throughout the record. A work bathed in half-light, as suggested both by Yuka Fuji's photograph of Sylvian on the back cover and by the whole design, entrusted for the occasion to Vaughan Oliver (a constant presence at 4AD), in which Sylvian whispers, declaims, transcends, immersing himself with deep devotion in the recesses of the soul through his dense, precious vocal phrasing. An almost entirely acoustic album, magically arranged by his dear friend and long-time collaborator Sakamoto, who manages to shape Sylvian's intuitions without ever smothering them, enhancing their sheer beauty with harmonic textures masterfully performed by exceptional musicians such as Mark Isham, David Torn, Phil Palmer, Danny Thompson, Steve Jansen, Danny Cummings, alongside Sakamoto himself.

“Secrets Of The Beehive” takes the form of an essential song-as-poem, where the lyrics, even more hermetic and emblematic than in the past, increasingly express a need for introspection, wrestling with ghosts of the past, existential unease, dark forces, loneliness. All of it accompanied by a constant glimmer of hope.

Nine tracks of intense beauty which, while each possesses its own distinct personality, together seem to give rise to a single, cohesive journey: the fleeting portrait of autumnal atmospheres in “September”, the aching ballad “The Boy With The Gun”, the evocative chiaroscuro of the ethereal “Maria”, the splendid flamenco arpeggio accompanying the metaphorical lyrics of “When Poets Dreamed Of Angels”, the dark noir atmospheres of “Mother and Child” and “The Devil's Own”, the loneliness and echo of memories over the orchestral carpets of “Waterfront”, the joy and sacredness of “Let The Happiness In”, and the distant reverberations of the delicate harmonies of “Orpheus”, a nod to the legendary and mysterious bard. To these nine gems, the CD edition adds one more as a bonus track: “Forbidden Colours”, a new version of the 1983 masterpiece-single by Sakamoto and Sylvian, already featured in the soundtrack to Nagisa Oshima's film “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”, sung by David Bowie (released in Italy as “Furyo”).

“Secrets Of The Beehive” gives life to a music-as-thought that meets the soul, absorbing the fascination of the unknown to project itself into the deepest reaches of perception - a purity that leaves no middle ground: it either enchants or alienates.

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12/11/2006