“CERULEAN BLUE” by NUNO LOURENCO

I am a sucker for albums like this one, I confess!

Once in a while there comes an album that, not only satisfies one with its musical content, but also strives to offer something more than just music. Cerulean Blue by Rain is such a case. A release that does not want to be a mere album, but also tries to provide a subject, a philosophy, an argument for discussion.

Yes, I think that it is not only music what we find there…and its not only music & lyrics either, it’s more than that! – Maybe it portrays a path most people walk in a lifetime, while doing it in a very subtle and intelligent way.

In order to try and make this review easier for the reader to understand, I’ll separate it in two basic parts: One where I’ll be more focused on the music, which is, lets be fair, what matter the most for the majority of our visitors. And a second part where I’ll try to explore a bit more the concept of the album itself, and my own conclusions about that less tangible and more opened to different interpretations part.

My justification for it? Well, I just find, as a whole package, Cerulean Blue to be a contemporary masterpiece. An album that mixes tremendously interesting music, emotional poetry, human nature in two of its most extreme albeit common views (I’ll get to this later on). And where all this is compacted with mysticism and true, intelligent, feeling.

Musically speaking, and letting the lyrical side of things for a post further analysis, the album is divided in two major parts, that nevertheless are entwined in each of the tracks:
The Neo-Classic, Orchestrated parts, and the Symphonic Post-Rock ones.

This separated but strangely bonded parts appear, in a logical throughout sense, connected to the spoken/sung duality of the album.

The spoken parts are always accompanied by that orchestral playing, while the sung parts are those were the musical landscapes change dramatically to thoughtful pop and symphonic post-rock venues, randomly approaching some vintage progressive fields.

There is not much to say about those orchestrated parts…they all are beautiful, merged in an aura of brightness, but with a touch of melancholy that darkens it a bit. They can be seen as glorious with the same ease they can be considered bitter or bucolic. It’s the listener’s choice…the listener’s ears…
The other half, that one I superficially referred as being post-rock, does suffer from the exact same perceptive and perspective analysis. They mix, in equal terms, the naivety and optimism of Rick and the darkened, doomed clutch of Mr. Jaeger.

This half does offer a grander diversity than that we may be driven to conclude upon first listen. There is a care for melody and for some catchy moments, but there is even a greater care for imposing a dubious yet delicious threshold on the two mindsets of the story tellers. And we are just driven to set one foot in each side and let ourselves be part of that game of equilibriums.
There are close references to the music of Sigur Ros, mid term Radiohead and Pineapple Thief, mostly for the pin-pointed Post-Rock influences. But there are moments when the singer just sounds like Peter Gabriel or even Roger Waters in his solo works.

All this does not take an inch of Rain’s originality. Quite in the opposite, it reveals a deep sense of assurance for what is really purposed here.

If in The Lammas Lands we are served with an outstanding song in terms of a crescendo of emotions, thus reminding me a mix between Sigur Ros and Peter Gabriel; in Parsifal the Gregorian Chants take us to a mystic yet gloomy place where our dreams sometimes fly, just to be crushed by severe reality.

Starcrossed is built upon a rich percussion basis, while the character deals with the dubious world of religious sects, and their mesmerizing and hypnotic words. There are strong reminiscences of Radiohead in the singing.

In The Silver Apples of the Moon we are given an ever changing track, that crosses various styles, from the Floydian acoustic guitar, to a more “aggressive” part where the voice is reminiscent to that of Roger Waters, not only in tone but also tingled with a touch of despair, so characteristic of the aforementioned artist. This is a rich and chameleonic track that perfectly show us the full musical perspectives of Rain’s album.

Curiously, there are sung parts in Light and Magic that remind me of Sting’s The Soul Cages. And even if some excerpts of the music point me in that direction, by the middle of it, the track slightly changes direction into more Radiohead/Pineapple Thief grounds. The sax solo near the end, pretty much Floydian, does add a beautiful extra colour.

Jerusalem is the emotional pinnacle of the album, at least in my opinion, both vocally and musically speaking. I find the vocals here simply chilling…there really is an emotional charge that seems to strike the listener when he sings. Now the choruses are not so well accomplished, but that does not really affect the overall stunning “soul” of this particular track.

Cerulean Blue is the place where all things end and a new existence is born. Maybe that’s the main reason for this being the track where the orchestrated part is present throughout, providing it with architecture that differs from that of the remaining album.

This may sound, to some, a bit boring for first time listeners, especially if they don’t listen to it in proper terms, but further listens will eventually unveil the true potentialities of the album. Yes, the music keeps itself in the melodic side of things, but there are details everywhere, that must be discovered. And they will eventually be discovered; to the joy of the focused listener…it is just a matter of patience, perseverance, and will to give the album the proper time to grow on you. And this is something the author expects from the listener, I believe, or else you are just not the public for this album. As simple as that!

Lyrically, only but a few albums out there are as rich as Cerulean Blue.

While departing from a concept story about a young man’s travel across America, and his experiences and views shortly portrayed in postcards, and an old Mr. Jaeger’s personal response to those ideas, the lyrics explore the true essence of Men. There are numerous references to artists/philosophers and philosophies, such as shamanic ideals of Tao Te Ching or Van Gogh’s doomish letters.

Anyway, despite the whole level of discussion, and the huge palette of arguments to throw in a philosophically rich conversation, I shorten that wider view focusing on the story itself, that really shows us the views upon life of the “two different” characters of the album: Rick and Mr. Jaeger.

They portray two of the most common personalities of our society. Rick is a young man, which voyage across America provides him with apart experiences, to which he always relates in an optimistic way. He is that adventurous, good-humoured person that most of us was one day…in search of life the way he thinks it is meant to be lived: as if a bright light shines on continuously and life is but a sequence of grateful events from which we ultimately retrieve but good lessons. He has that rebellious spirit, defending his ideals with every breath and heart beat. But he is also but a tourist, walking by those events without having to deal with them…an outsider looking in, and he will eventually reach the point where he must begin settling down and endure his own life experiences.

Mr. Jaeger, on the other hand, is that mournful, broken old man no one really wants to be, but that most of us will. Bitter and utterly pessimistic, he sees no joy in life and has a darkened point of view that lets in no light at all.

So we are presented with that light/dark, yin/yang storytelling, only to conclude in the end that Rick and Mr. Jaeger is the same person, only in different stages of his life. This is a common path that many of us cross in a lifetime…and a misfortune one it is.

So maybe this album works also as a warning sign. A yield signal about what may become of us in a few years time…and it is up to us to maintain an equilibrium of forces between the Rick and Mr. Jaeger that lives inside us all!

We all find our Mount McKinley during our lifetime. And the way it affects us changes from person to person. In the end, that’s exactly that dealing what makes us individuals.

The video that comes with the CD is also a must. Here, Mr. Jaeger’s personal landscapes are very well portrayed and we really experience that darkness he so vividly refers to: The ashes in which he (we) must live!

The tune is just beautiful, and the tone of voice absolutely fascinating, for it perfectly fits the poetry and the mourning mindset of a delusion lifetime.

Flawless production really, that simply puts the cherry on top of the exquisite package we are offered to contemplate here.

Basically, if musically this album is excellent, when properly framed with the lyrics and with the listener/reader will to “investigate” the whole thing, Cerulean Blue can naturally and deservingly be elevated to the category of a contemporary Masterpiece. It is, honestly, a work of art that must be praised as so by this reviewer. And if you try it (I highly recommend you do so), just take in consideration that what makes it as singular and obligatory as I said it is, is the complete package and not just the separate parts!

18TH July 2005

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