tRACK LISTING

1. Breathe In
2. Desert Rain
3. Persecution feat. Uche Eke
4. Mirror Ball Rock
5. Yesterday's Friend
6. Can't Always Fix What You Broke
7. Me and You
8. Living It Up
9. 10:43
10. Don't Let Go
11. Crazy in My Head
12. Lipgloss (in Avacado Green)
)
Credits
All Tracks recorded at Planet Uche, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
All lyrics by RoB Ward
All music by RoB Ward and Uche Eke
Backing Vocals: RoB Ward and Uche Eke

STREAMING LINKS

Elecentricity is not currently available to stream. All tracks that are available on streaming platforms can be accessed by clicking the links below:

VIDEO VAULT

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REVIEW

In sharp contrast to his last album Lazy Days, in which we were invited to sit back and relax, this latest offering by Rob jolts us out of our comfort zone and forces us to explore new, unsettling but ultimately awesome experiences. The very title Elecentricity hints at what is contained inside, that is, a mixture of electricity (power, force, energy) and eccentricity (the questioning of the ‘norm’, zany ideas). The images contained in the album booklet also foreshadow, indeed forewarn, the listener what lies in store: an interplanetary journey exploring both hidden and overt life-forces, mysterious yet all-too-human energies. The lurid colours unsettle us and force us to see the realities around us in a new light. The interplay between the spherical planets and the changing coloured eyes of the singer (Elecentricity is, of course, an anagram of ‘circle / eye-tint’) shows us the relationship between our own intimate desires and the unknown forces around us.​

Many songs make us question our comfortable and familiar world: “I can’t seem to explain,” (Persecution), “We’re on a road to nowhere” (Breathe In), “I wouldn’t be the state that I find myself in” (Yesterday’s Friend). “My heart was close to breaking and I can’t go on taking all this pain you put me through” (10:43). “Going crazy do you know what I mean?” (Crazy in my Head), “You try to find a reason as to why life isn’t fair.” (Don’t Let Go). Aware of our own limitations we feel helpless “If I were a king…but I’m not” (Yesterday’s Friend) and we feel frightened as seen in the very unnerving song ‘Persecution’. Faced with such problems we turn to physical pleasures for comfort “When you kiss me I exhale, when you hold me I inhale” (Breathe In), “the pleasure’s in the pain… I draw your body closer” (Desert Rain), “Want to get you on the floor so I can dance my dance with you” (Crazy in my Head). We turn to the physical world for energy and power “Can you feel the rain upon your skin?” (Desert Rain), “We live in the Summer sun …… the fields are green now for us to run through” (Me and You). However, the physical world as we know it is not enough and we turn to new, unconventional forces. The transforming power of the mirror-ball which mysteriously generates its own power and enlivens the church congregation “Keep on spinning, elecentricity all over me” (Mirror Ball Rock), the energy from driving along a fast road “Living it up, love on the freeway, living a fantasy” (Living it up), the weird assortment of stimuli found in ‘Lipgloss’ all give new stimulating experiences which excite, which regenerate but which ultimately do not fulfil. Is all hope lost? No, as behind all the glitz and sparkle, Rob reminds us, as he does in each of his albums, that true fulfilment comes from the relationship between two people. Herein we find the answer to our true desires. “But you’re always by my side” (Breathe In), “I draw your body closer, soon you will me mine” (Desert Rain), “I can help you with your dreams, I can help you with your pleasures” (Yesterday’s Friend), “I’m the air that you breathe, I’m the warmth in your heart” (Can’t Always Fix What You Broke), “It’s me and you and we’re in this together” (Me and You). So we go from break-up to dependency, from abandonment to joint pleasure, from sadness to humour. The album does have moments of doubt and sadness (‘10:43’, ‘Don’t Let Go’) but it starts with a positive song ‘Breathe in’ emphasising physical pleasure, the two middle songs ‘Yesterday’s Friend’ and ‘Can’t Always Fix What You Broke’ are both promises of fidelity and support and the final song Lipgloss (In Avocado Green) ends the album on a humorous, quirky and positively life-giving note.

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If the themes of this album are diverse and sometimes unusual the same can be said of the tunes. There are the slow, ballad-like, pensive numbers such as Don’t Let Go, Yesterday’s Friend and Can’t Always Fix What You Broke, and there are the fast, lively and up-beat melodies such as Breathe In and Me and You. There are the swaying,- rock numbers such as Living it Up and Mirror Ball Rock. These are contrasted by the punctuated, dark rhythms of Persecution and the imposing, demanding beat of 10:43. The rap-like Crazy in my Head is frantic in contrast to the evocative and mystical Desert Rain with its eastern influences. The album ends on the zany, unsettling and fun rhythms of Lipgloss (In Avocado Green).

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An album to make you think, to make you dance and to make you explore hitherto un-experienced sensations. So, don’t let go and enjoy the ride !

LORENZO FARINA