FLOWERMOUTH

Art pop duo No-Man, composed of Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness released their second studio album titled 'Flowermouth' in June 1994, a very eclectic collection of compositions that strongly incorporate within the overall psychedelic and dreamy sound of the record elements of electronica, dub, and symphonic music, whereas the album has even been classified as trip-hop, drawing upon the rising popularity of Massive Attack at that time. In any case this is an ambitious release that presents No-Man as a matured act heading straight to the realm of uncompromising art pop music with a nod to the members' eclectic tastes. The album captures a period in time in which Tim Bowness had been working on a collaborative album with Richard Barbieri and Steven Wilson's Porcupine Tree had just released their second album, a compelling blend of psychedelia and krautrock, especially for what concerns the musical scene in Britain in the 90s, esoteric and experimental for sure.

Structured and modeled as pop songs, the tracks on 'Flowermouth' dare to include enough experimentation and attempt to touch upon various adjacent genres, as their lengths even reach the seven and nine minute marks. The songwriting is fantastic overall and the words to the songs (all authored by Bowness) complement beautifully the moody music and the orchestral soundscapes that otherwise embrace most of the songs on here. Tints of jazz, dub, and rock are used intelligently, as mentioned before, duly served by the honorable guests in the face of Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, or Steve Jansen, among others. It is around the end of the second half that the album becomes a little too tiring to fully appreciate and absorb, with a few tracks that just about fail to hold on to the promise of the preceding ones, some of which are truly great. Good listen and one of the important albums by the duo.