JIMI SUMÉN PROJEKT

<< Jouko "Jimi" Sumén from Lappeenranta [a small town in Eastern Finland] was among the most noteworthy Finnish rock musicians in the early 80's. In the 1977 national contest for pop groups his band Dreams shared victory with SUKELLUSVENE by playing songs of his great idol Jimi Hendrix. The fiery performance of the 18-year old Sumén was finished by total destroying of his guitar, just like his idol had done. On the gigs in the following summer his own Ted Nugent influenced pieces started to replace the cover performances. On his debut album Key West (1978) the guitarist was helped in the composing work by the producer Bill Carson, singer-songwriter Dave Lindholm and the FAROUT guitarist Ari Erkko. Sumén is weak as a vocalist and the album is rather incoherent.

In the autumn of 1978 Jimi Sumén moved to London for four months, absorbing proggy influences from e.g. The Alan Parsons Project. In his new Projekt he played also keyboards, and his overall style was taken from DAVID BOWIE. According to Esko Lehtonen [the author of a Finnish rock encyclopedia published in 1983], Screenplay, produced by Tapio Korjus, is "some kind of a crossover between the Parsons-like expertise and the icy technological world of Gary Numan". >>

I actually once had Screenplay on CD for a short while, but I gave it away because the music left me cold. I'm now using YouTube where all tracks can be found. The brief opening title track (1:46) is a hilarious, synth-centred song in a fast tempo. The "Parsons meets Numan" idea seems fairly adequate, although the sonic differences between songs are modest and the overall atmosphere favours the post-punk/ New Wave sharpness and mostly misses the more sophisticated or romantic side of The Alan Parsons Project. Often the synths dominate the cold and somewhat oppressive soundscape. Early 80's gloomy synth pop. With a better production á la Alan Parsons, this album would have stood the test of time much better.

The mentioned David Bowie influence clearly points at the late 70's albums (Low, Heroes, Lodger), but unfortunately omitting the ambient textures created with Brian Eno. Bowie's less memorable songs of the time such as 'Be My Wife' would be a good reference. 'Movements' (the longest one at 5:35) resembles the song 'Heroes' and I bet it's not a coincidence. It's obvious that as a vocalist Sumén attempts to sound like Bowie on this album. One of the best songs is 'Swingin' London' featuring the guest appearance of saxophonist Heikki Halme. Also 'Cut Up' and 'Mister' are among the better ones for their fresher, partly fusion-approaching sound, and the final track 'Isn't It Wild' for being a bit slower in tempo and thus hinting at the JAPAN direction Sumén was to take on his next album.

In fact this album is notably better than I thought several years ago upon my initial disappointment at the coldness of the sound. 2½ stars rounded up. Those listeners who like the late-70's Bowie AND the early 80's synth-heavy New Wave (Gary Numan, Human League etc.) will find this album interesting. Jimi Sumén played guitar for several New Wave acts in Finland and also on Secret (1983) by the British band CLASSIX NOUVEAUX. Later he has been involved in jazzier projects too, such as in RinneRadio and Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury.