Yellow6 – A Change In The Weather.
Yellow6 – A Change In The Weather.
After intriguing us all with his JARR collaborations, Jon Attwood returns to his main solo guise, Yellow6. I say ‘main’ because, to me Yellow6 is Attwood and its difficult to gauge where one ends and the other begins. The former punk rocker sure has learned to slow things down. Jons forte is, of course, emotive guitar exploration. (Think Robin Guthrie, the 2022 version, and you will not be too wide of the mark.) Having released music prolifically for decades, Yellow6’s extensive back-catalogue is maturing like a fine wine. What began dreampoppy and accessible has moved ever more toward refined, downtempo, post rock, slowcore and ambient.
Like many solo artists the covid19 pandemic presented an opportunity both for reflection and, of course, to compose music that was often inspired by what was going on either globally, or just in the local neighbourhood. I think this post (or co)- covid, new normal world must be highly agreeable to Attwoods creative side. To me he is releasing some of his finest work right now. A Change In The Weather is no exception. The latest album feels like a logical next step from Silent Streets and Empty Skies. Outdoor themes are to the fore once again, this time including the sea, trees, clouds, etc. However, where SS&ES found comfort in a lockdown world, there’s only the sense of ‘calm before the storm’ on this record. Calm and peacefulness have been consistent themes in Jons work but I can’t help looking at that sleeve art and wondering about those dark skies above the Big Wheel. Attwood himself is emerging from the clouds lending a brooding presence to the landscape.
Within nine tracks, A Change In The Weather offers over sixty minutes of glacial guitar excellence. Patience is rewarded a thousand fold. ‘Loomer’, for example, is staggeringly beautiful. On ‘All Lies’ Attwood falls upon a guitar motif and uses repetitive cycles to slowly build and evolve. This is the Yellow6 modus operandi and it is so archetypally Yellow6, Jon might as well patent it. The result is another album taking the listener on a journey that is both relaxing and enjoyable. I would go as far as to say immersive and even spiritual. The music of Yellow6 is a (far from blank) canvas. Each individual will get from this what they are willing to put in themselves. For me, as the album progresses the pieces become increasingly thoughtful to the point of troubled. I cannot shift that ‘impending storm’ feeling as the album enters its closing half, and with works like ‘And Around Again’ or ‘Hollow Trees’ I’m put in mind of early Low, CODY era Mogwai and even the distilled essence of Joy Division. It may seem like a stretch but it isn’t.
A Change In The Weather is out now. Best of all, this is another Sound In Silence release, meaning limited, lovingly assembled, card enveloped CDs with little inlays. I love these guys.
Don’t miss our Bark Psychosis featurette where I spoke to Jon at length about the influential album, Hex.
Silent Streets And Empty Skies