Ele-mental

Weekend before last, I heard Tears For Fears' Elemental again for the first time in a long time. IT was special hearing the songs again. Especially given the company present. It is an underrated release, because this is the first cd that came out after Roland and Curt split up, and Roland continued with the name and a different band backing him. But all in all, I think it is a strong effort, and in many ways I see it as an evolutionary piece. I see the experimental and keyboard nature on some tracks reminiscent of their sound on their debut, The Hurting, and I hear the heartbeat rhythms I often associate with Songs From the Big Chair as well as the jazz and soul and harmonies from The Seeds of Love...I hear these things as a collage, interweaved with the rock foundation of the songs. It has aspects of the old packaged perfectly with the new. And oddly enough, I listen to this and it seems timeless, and I find it hard to believe that it came out the year I graduated high school. That was over 10 years ago, almost 15.

I had a sudden desire to hear "Mr Pessimist" again, from Elemental, which is one of those tracks that seem like a naturally evolutionary song...a little keyborad noodling, a heartbeat bassline and some soul with a great jazz piano feel. When I heard it last, it made me think of Robert Wyatt, actually, which is perhaps because I now know that "I Believe" from Songs From the Big Chair is an homage to Robert Wyatt, and "Mr Pessimist" has a little of that feel in it.

Anyways, I am not much of a lyric poster, but here they are.

( Mr Pessimist )