Sky Patterns – Night Call
“First you look so strong
Then you fade away”
Ride – Vapour Trail
Night Call is the new long player from Cheshire based artist, Sky Patterns. It is a swift follow-up to last years Answers On A Postcard. We reviewed his debut album on release and found it to be something of a secret delight. To then learn of an impending new record was a bit of a surprise. Such fast turnarounds are becoming rarities these days, even for the most prolific of musicians.
One would be forgiven for assuming we’d get a bit more of the same with this release. Not so. Night Call whisks us away from the gentle dreampop that defined the debut. This time around breezy jangle pop and folktronica gives way to darker, atmospheric synthpop. These ‘skies’ belong distinctly to the night as the title implies. I think this is a clever move by Sky Patterns. Pivoting into the nocturne presents him with a whole other colour palate in which to dip his aural brush.
Night Call finds inspiration from the early eighties futurist movement – think, Propaganda, Visage, Kissing The Pink, The Passions, Japan , those interesting and somewhat lesser known acts that paved the way for synthpop and Depeche Modes eventual ascension to stadium status. It also nods toward anthemic alternative acts like The Cure, The Sound and early Verve. All of the titles here are infused with twilight if not the dead of night itself. From searing opener ‘Fireflies’ to the epic closing track ‘Into The Forest’ it is clear that the sun has set well behind us. Highlights here include those aforementioned bookends as well as the wilfully experimental ‘No One Saw A Thing’ and the hymnal ‘Duality’ both of which recall OMD at their early, inventive best. Paul Lockett sings with heartfelt vulnerability. Passionate and melodic, wide-eyed and open vowelled he evokes a ‘White Lies‘ vision of the eighties. Elsewhere, Forever More walks in the same cold air as Ultravox’s early Midge period – a baroque, romanticised vision of Old Europe. I’ve missed that.
What are sky patterns after all? Vapour trails? Little (fluffy) clouds? Moreover what’s their purpose? Are they Gods great brushstrokes or merely constructs of our own foolish thoughts and dreams? Looking skyward can reward us in all manner of ways. Sailors will look to the clouds rather than the waves for insights over an impending storm.
The sky is an ever-changing vista that remains constantly intriguing and provocative.
As is the music of Sky Patterns.
Night Call is released this Friday (6th Feb), with an extremely limited amount of CDs available exclusively via Bandcamp.