Four Seasons for the punk generation
It took a while for me to find the right words to put to this review. On the first couple of listens I was totally blown away, lost for words.
You see, What Nature Gives…Nature Takes Away is far more than just an album. Like nature itself, it is profound and unstoppable, a Tour De Force, an irresistible masterpiece in four parts. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for the punk-goth generation if you like.
What The Membranes give…
It feels like the culmination of an entire life’s work, a cycle of life just like nature itself, it seems like the whole of The Membranes career has built to this overwhelming pinnacle. Deeply thought-provoking and pushing the musical boundaries as they have done over the last few years with Dark Matter/Dark Energy and its companion piece Inner Space/Outer Space, this album is Robb and Co’s very own Magnum Opus. Nature may take away, but The Membranes just give and give…
Whatever you think of the album, one thing is for certain, once you press play or drop the needle in the groove, you certainly can’t ignore it. Listening as background music is an impossibility the musicianship, choral parts, intricate grooves, thought-provoking lyrics and visualisation created by the incredible experimental sounds requiring you give it the full focus of your attention.
Bass parts that Joy Division would have killed for, eerie singing guitars, unnerving and utterly majestic choral parts, near-whispered vocals, sinister strings & experimental electronica. Nature provides the soundtrack too with The Jackdaw Drones on Winter (The Beauty and Violence of Nature) needing to be heard. The songs swing between those of dark gothic majesty, through the mysteriously affecting, taking in furious punk screeching guitars and vocals on the way.
At the First Touch of Winter, Summer Fades Away…
This whole work of art, and I mean whole – the music, lyrics, mixing, mastering and artwork, is proof that punk rock and nature are not strange bedfellows, as a listener you are taken on a breath-taking musical journey through the four seasons, along the way astounded at the unmeasurable spectacular beauty juxtaposed with the unpredictable violence that reflects the reality of the natural world, often impacted by man and scourge of the 21st Century.
This album is a glorious mind fuck. Songs like A Murmuration of Starlings on Blackpool Pier have you closing your eyes visualising swarms of the shimmering creatures swooping and turning, swiftly changing direction and creating ever-changing ghostly shapes in the failing light.
Along the way the bands enviable art is bolstered by adding seemingly unending layers of interest, the album would not be the beast it is without the wondrous voices of the Claire Pilling Choir. Guest appearances abound with the unmistakable vocals from The Packt/Theatre of Hate/Spear of Destiny frontman Kirk Brandon as well as a poetry recital from punk icon Jordan.
Punk rock & Nature – Strange Bedfellows?
The punk rock vs nature theme is explored in one of the pairings. One of televisions’ most enigmatically interesting presenters with a fascinating backstory (read his autobiography Fingers in the Sparklejar) the punk rock loving Chris Packham (who has been known to litter the likes of Springwatch with references to The Clash and The Smiths while be-decked in Jesus and Mary Chain t-shirts) makes a guest appearance reciting a poem on Winter. I know I’ll never watch any of the seasonal nature watch programmes in the same way again.
Incredible beauty, intense loss, darkness and light, it is all here and is unequivocally glorious. What Nature Gives…Nature Takes away is an unmitigated timeless classic that needs to be played in a darkened room with no interruptions. Or indeed from the rooftops for all to hear far and wide.
Absolutely amazing review. Im very intrugued.
It is a pretty special album!