BLACKFIELD

"Blackfield" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by UK/Israeli rock act Blackfield. The album was released through the Snapper Music/Helicon labels in February 2004. Blackfield is the project featuring English musician Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, solo, Bass Communion, No-Man...etc.) and the Israelian rock musician Aviv Geffen. The project was founded in 2001 after Geffen had invited Porcupine Tree to play shows in Israel. The two musicians found common ground in wanting to create a project focused on releasing melancholic pop/rock songs.

So while the material on "Blackfield" certainly has a lot in common with the most vers/chorus structured songs on the contemporary releases from Porcupine Tree, like "Stupid Dream" (1999) and "Lightbulb Sun" (2000), the tracks on this debut album are solely restricted to that format. So calling the music on the album progressive rock would be a bit of a stretch, although this certainly isn´t your regular mainstream oriented pop/rock either. The deeply melancholic atmosphere of the music would instantly kill your regular commerciel radio listening music fan. So I guess melancholic alternative rock isn´t the worst description of the music found on the album.

Most songs are composed by both musicians, with Geffen composing most of the instrumental parts of the songs (Wilson is only credited for composing two tracks) and both musicians handling lyrics. Geffen already had multible well received Hebrew language albums under his belt before meeting Wilson, so while he probably wasn´t known by many people outside Israel, he was quite the prolific and seasoned musician in his own right, and considering how busy Wilson was in those years, it´s not a surprise that Geffen was probably the most active of the two in terms of composing music for Blackfield.

Wilson on the other hand sings lead vocals on all but two tracks, so the Porcupine Tree connection is impossible not to make because of Wilson´s distinct sounding voice and singing style. The album was produced by Wilson and Geffen and the listener is treated to a warm, organic, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion "Blackfield" is a good quality first release from Blackfield, and those who enjoy the shorter vers/chorus structured Porcupine Tree tracks and of course fans of melancholic alternative rock in general, are recommended to give this album a chance. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

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