Music review: Bryan Ferry – ‘Avonmore’
Pair Bryan Ferry’s stylishly slick vocals with an all-star supporting cast and you get an intricate and gorgeous set of arrangements of sophisticated pop elegance.
With the assistance of artists such as Flea, Ronnie Spector, Mark Knopfler and Nile Rodgers, the style-conscious crooner delivers his finest solo effort since 2010’s “Olympia.”
While Ferry served as the frontman for Roxy Music, I joined the innovative group’s bandwagon after hearing the intoxicating sounds of memorable songs like “Dance Away” and “Angel Eyes” from 1979’s “Manifesto.” The lush layering of “Avonmore” is a welcome return to Roxy Music’s signature sound featured on the stunning “Avalon” from 1982. On the new material, Ferry’s melodious crooning is smooth and seductive on “Midnight Train,” “A Special Kind of Guy” and “One Night Stand,” while style and sophistication converge on “Loop De Li” and the title track.
“I had the world on a string and I threw it all away,” laments the iconic singer on “Soldier of Fortune” as if hoping to correct the mistakes of the past. Ferry collaborates with Johnny Marr on this contemplative number fueled by Marr’s gentle guitar riffs.
The 69-year-old singer performs two engaging covers to bring the album to a distinguished close. Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary” are purposely slow with touches of synthesizers carefully cradling Ferry’s never-aging voice. Under the skillful production of Ferry and Rhett Davies, the arrangements summon an intimate texture of moody and sensual complexity.
“Avonmore” is vintage Ferry at his best, making it an instant contemporary classic.
Clint Rhodes is the Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ music reviewer. He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard.com.