SECRETS OF THE BEEHIVE

After the longeurs of Gone to Earth, which while lovely to listen to occasionally slid into the relams of sameyness, Secrets of the Beehive is a simpler, more tightly constructed affair. In some ways it represents the end of a period of Sylvian's work (you could almost lump Brilliant Trees, Gone to Earth and this together as a trilogy) and some would suggest that this is the weakest of the three, Sylvian sounding a little bereft of inspiration in places. Indeed, hereafter he set about deconstructing his music with abandon, eventually culminating in the almost empty nothingness of Plight and Premonition, a collaboration with Holger Czukay. Here though, he's still writing songs and there are some gems here. Orpheus blends gently tumbling acoustic guitar with some beauifully sweet flugelhorn from Mark Isham. When Poets Dreamed of Angels features some stunning Spanish Guitar and Let the Happiness In features a lovely muted brass arrangement. Secrets is a lush record, far removed from the ambient textures Sylvian spent the following years exploring. It ain't prog as far as I can tell, but it is a very, very pretty and often sad album.