Uknown

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Nearly ten years ago, John Frusciante’s “Niandra Lades and Usually Just A T-Shirt,” introduced the world to a solo singer-songwriter who was easily comparable to icons such as Syd Barrett, T. Rex, Nick Drake and Alexander “Skip” Spence, both for marked genius and madness.

“Smile From The Streets You Hold” spanned John Frusciante’s pre-Red Hot Chili Peppers work through 1997 and painted a detailed picture of the widely publicized loss and addiction John had been experiencing. Lo-Fi, painful and maddening, yet some of the most passionate music ever recorded.

After his 1999 breakthrough comeback with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “To Record Only Water For Ten Days” marked his solo comeback in 2001. A man who had been resurrected. Uplifting and brilliant, John’s songwriting was amazing and he had expanded his palette with the use of synths and drums machines.

“Shadows Collide With People” is John’s first album not recorded on his own, the first with slick, major label production. Initial reactions: “Holy VH-1! Holy Adult-Contemporary!” Followed by: “Uplifting! Sweet! He can write a song like no other!”

The track-by-track:
1. “Carvel” – If you like “TROWFTD” then you should love this track.
2. “Omission” – First of two songwriting collaborations with Josh Klinghoffer on the album. I can’t help but make the River Phoenix comparison with Josh Klinghoffer, he sounds sweet and youthful with his voice intertwining with John’s at parts. The happier elements of “Height Down” from “Smile…” I feel is a close comparison. Finishes with one of John’s classic solos.
3. “Regret”, 4. “Ricky” and 5. “Second Walk” 9. “This Cold” – Some of my least favorite of John’s work lies here. These are some of the few moments where the high-end production and arrangements just seem to work against John’s sometimes raw, confessional style of songwriting. “Regret” can be a just plain painful listen and “Second Walk” sounds generic. Having said that, “Ricky” and “Second Walk” are, lyrically, excellent, classic Frusciante.
6. “Every Person” – A light affair at the beginning, initially not far from “Curtains” off of “Niandra Lades.” Additional production also reminds me of “Untitled #11” from “Usually Just A T-Shirt.” Stunning.
7. “-00Ghost27” – First “noise” piece of the album and second songwriting collaboration with Josh. Beautifully evokes the nouveau laptop glitch of Fennesz, Pita or Ekkehard Ehlers (some of John’s latest listening) while simultaneously referring to an old orchestral piece playing on a Victrola. The timbre is way different, but compositionally this is styled very similarly to much of “Niandra Lades and Usually Just A T-Shirt.”
8. “Wednesday’s Song” – Another brilliant, uplifting piece that follows quite logically from “TROWFTD.” Modern production values strengthen the song, while delayed vocal effects remind one of earlier Frusciante works. It feels good.
10. “Failure33Object” – A synthy, melodic outing. Old German Krautrock, Tangerine Dream, Philip Glass and Brian Eno all make good references. Simple and clean, to the crunchy ending, which then brings back the aforementioned glitch.
11. “Song To Sing When I’m Lonely” – Another positive vibe track where the production and songwriting totally compliment each other. Lyrically and musically wonderful, absolutely love it.
12. “Time Goes Back” – Somewhat generic piece in my opinion. At least it has a melody where the word “phase” recalls “I see your face, it’s all out of place.”
13. “In Relief” – A song I have known for about three years, as long as he has been performing it live. It’s always been a really good track; the production here puts it over the top, a nice tense introduction followed by John’s vocal “relief”. Lush, full and well-written.
14. “Water” – Poppy, hoppy, falsetto, funky. Then the timing about ¾ thru goes crazy, fun and buckwild with some of John’s RHCP style soloing to finish it off like a huge hit.
15. “Cut-out” – A nice, strong ballad.
16. “Chances” – Moody, light, heavy, and direct with the instantly classic line “in the multi-dimensional scheme, you’ll know what I mean.”
17. “23 go in to end” – More references to classic electronic music mentioned in “Failure33Object” review and also compositionally is definitive Frusciante. Pretty, ambient and melodic.
18. “The Slaughter” – The Wendy Carlos styled vocal processing in the chorus intro is breath-taking. THE song of the album. Flea plays on this but you wouldn’t know it.

“Shadows Collide With People” is John’s strongest vocal performance to date. The synthwork is warm, compositional and varied. This album functions as an organic, more commercial step forward from “TROWFTD.” None of John’s previous albums has had the mass market possibility as this, but there are also a few tracks I consider unnecessary. One of those tracks just may end up being a hit, too. Overall, a solid album, John maintains his place as one of America’s greatest living songwriters. “Shadows…” is both building on the past and looking to the future in an educated yet heartfelt manner. People who like Radiohead should definitely buy “Shadows Collide With People.”

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