Emerging onto the scene in the late 1970s, Adrian Sherwood has worked on hundreds of records as a producer but has only released a small number of full-length records under his own name. The Collapse of Everything, which is available now on vinyl (clear and black), compact disc, and digital through On-U Sound, is his fourth LP, and it finds Sherwood in solid form as he welcomes guests high of profile and worthwhile including Keith LeBlanc (RIP), Doug Wimbish, and Brian Eno.
Adrian Sherwood’s new album opens with its title track, “The Collapse of Everything,” setting the album’s sturdy dub foundation into motion as the flourishes of flute that recur throughout the track help to establish a humid, indeed tropical vibe. It suffices to say that Doug Wimbish’s bass is huge here and across the record, as he plays on seven of the ten tracks.
“Dub Inspector” follows, commencing a snakier journey, the dub roots deeper and the horns suggesting a slow-motion trip through a psychedelic bazaar complete with winding lines of belly dancers. “The Well is Poisoned (Dub)” unfurls the thudding, echoing beats, the long, grumbling foghorn tones, swirls of dub ambiance courtesy of Brian Eno, who contributes guitar, vocal, and effects to the track, and the teetering seesaw of bowed cello from Ivan “Celloman” Hussey
Next, “Body Roll” offers an unruffled glide through a labyrinthine maze of city streets as saxophone and flute return to the mix. Its title, taken from the 1973 Japanese film by Kinji Fukasaku Battles Without Honor and Humanity, begins with a faux-Oriental feel, slyly augmenting the zigzagging atmosphere with synth squirts, machine gun discharges, and an almost John Carpenter-esque keyboard pattern in the concluding seconds.
Side two begins with “Spaghetti Best Western,” which evokes Morricone but with a dark moodiness that hints at a wild-ass three-way collaboration between The Maestro, Link Wray, and Sherwood as the wails of harmonica loosely highlight an association with the Charles Bronson character in Sergio Leone’s masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West.
From there, “The Great Rewilding” is a big, beautiful excursion down a muddy river, complete with choppy rhythms and reverberating spurts of fuzzy dub. It’s followed by “Spirits (Further Education),” which is laden with colossally sized extra-strength rhythmic pound. In the sequence’s penultimate spot, “Hiroshima Dub Match” is positively loaded with ripples and surges of Mark Bandola’s psychedelic guitar
Closing The Collapse of Everything, “The Grand Designer” is a brighter-hued affair, but it retains a current of tension, with more machine gun rattles and cascades of pizzicato strings. The track could easily work as accompaniment for a film’s end credits crawl. With nearly five decades at the mixing desk, Adrian Sherwood is as creatively sharp as ever.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
