Phill Vidler - The Benefits Of Devolution

The title of Kentish singer/songwriter Phill Vidler’s new album The Benefits Of Devolution suggests a sound that is simpler, perhaps rawer than previous musical projects. This is true of the collection to some degree: gone are the atmospherics of The Fog and the all-over-the-place feel of The World’s Not Looking. However, there are some ways in which the sound of this new effort, if not also the overall quality, has evolved. Little flares of exploration adorn several of the tracks: the feedback of the third, the blips of the fourth, the Indian-like ending of the fifth, and so on. The use of the other aforementioned elements is evidence of development of which one wants to see more in following releases.

A more prominent example of a bending or blending of styles is the extensive use of an electronic, auto-tune-like vocal effect – the kind used by many contemporary R&B artists and Daft Punk. This appears on at least two tracks so much that by the album’s finish one has practically begged it to go away. It is irritating, distracting and except perhaps for the time it appears on the track ‘Cascade’, adding metallic shine to a line featuring reference to sunrays, seems out of place. In spite of such criticisms, even the vocal effect is evidence of expansion, something for which the songwriter should be saluted. One wishes Vidler made more of the interesting but extremely brief excursions like previously listed blips, feedback and so on, concentrating less on altering the vocals and more upon the musical backgrounds on which they sit which are at their worst bland and at their best very-beautiful-but-lacking-great-inventiveness, even if the finer ones do, to Vidler’s credit, convey a variety of moods. The album’s lyrics could – like the drums on ‘Chrysalis’ –be more hard-hitting, but are at times good, as on ‘Script’, ‘Nuance’ and ‘Bones’. That said, even the album’s greatest tracks are not as emotive as the best of, say, Jack Johnson, and that’s probably largely down to lyrics that don’t quite reach heights of sustained excellence.

Like the lyrics, the album’s vocals are good in general, except for those heard on ‘Ebo’ and ‘Placebo’ – both of which are part of a musical ‘trilogy’ with opening track ‘Please’ – due to the electronic effect employed, but not especially brilliant, although the singing does mix well with the rest of the music. One thing that is rather amazing, however, is some of Vidler’s guitar work, some of the most beautiful playing that this reviewer can remember outside of the realms of classical and jazz music. In addition to this great playing come other positives: the catchiness of the bouncy ‘Winds’ and also the lush synth-strings of ‘Placebo’.

In conclusion, this is a rather good album which again shows promise. The album has flashes of brilliance which are mainly founded upon excellent guitar work and there are occasionally other interesting facets which come into play. Some moments of intrigue feature more prominently than others, which is unfortunate because if they were a larger part of this picture, it could turn into a truly outstanding whole like nothing else, pushing the boundaries of and perhaps even reinventing the singer/songwriter style. As it is the collection is seriously let down by a lack of excitement, great variety or any especially large degree of inventiveness, as well as an absence of really compelling lyrics. Most of its songs are still worth a listen to, though, thanks to some beautiful riffs and spells of other greatness. If only such strengths were developed, the collection’s palette expanded further and the album’s weaknesses, relatively few in number but rather large in impact, eliminated, then we could well have a classic album.

The Benefits Of Devolution is available from amazon and bandcamp.