{"id":31800,"date":"2017-12-14T17:12:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T17:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=31800"},"modified":"2017-12-16T08:11:03","modified_gmt":"2017-12-16T08:11:03","slug":"rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light-robert-plant-keeps-the-flame-burning-on-carry-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2017\/12\/rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light-robert-plant-keeps-the-flame-burning-on-carry-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT – Robert Plant Keeps The Flame Burning On Carry Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Robert Plant<\/strong> has been enjoying a late career renaissance since 2007’s excellent\u00a0Raising Sand\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>collaboration with country\/bluegrass singer\u00a0Alison Krauss<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n

Carry Fire<\/strong><\/em>, <\/em>his 11th solo studio album, sees the Led Zeppelin<\/strong>\u00a0frontman backed once again by\u00a0The\u00a0Sensational Space Shifters <\/strong>– a quartet of\u00a0multi-instrumentalists – who clearly share his enthusiasm for finding new approaches to music.<\/h4>\n

Produced by Plant himself, the album covers similar territory to predecessor\u00a0Lullaby and …, The Ceaseless Roar<\/strong><\/em>, but feels like a stronger more complete collection.<\/p>\n

Appalachian-influenced opener\u00a0The May Queen <\/strong><\/em>sets the somewhat reflective tone of the album, droning acoustics and rootsy violin accompanying Plant’s unsentimental musing on the “dimming<\/em>\u00a0of my light”.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s a theme he returns to time and again, particularly on the dramatic title track and the haunting, elegiac album closer\u00a0Heaven Sent<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

They are very different artists, but\u00a0Carry Fire<\/em> reminds me of\u00a0PJ Harvey<\/strong><\/em>‘<\/em>s last two releases, in its use of unusual instrumentation and dynamics to create a world of its own.<\/p>\n

The Space Shifters –\u00a0John Baggott<\/strong>,\u00a0Justin Adams<\/strong>,\u00a0Dave Smith<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Liam \u201cSkin\u201d Tyson <\/strong>– blend electronics, loops and programming with more exotic apparatus – \u00a0t’bal, oud, bendir and E-bow – to magnificent effect.<\/p>\n

While Seth<\/strong>\u00a0Lakeman,<\/strong> who joined the band for their recent live show, contributes his not inconsiderable skills on fiddle and viola to three tracks.<\/p>\n

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For his part,\u00a0Plant has clearly learned a thing or two about production over the years, creating an album that’s positively brimming with atmospherics.<\/p>\n

Besides the Eastern rhythms of the title track, there are jarring stabs of electronica on\u00a0Keep It Hid <\/strong><\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>beautiful subtle strings on\u00a0A Way With Words<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Plant gets political on the anti-colonialist\u00a0Americana of\u00a0New World<\/strong><\/em> and the biting satire of\u00a0Carving Up The World Again<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

“The Russians, the Americans, the British and their friends\/They’re carving up the world again,” Plant rages. “A whole lot of posture and very little sense\/It’s no surprise they hide behind a wall and not a fence.”<\/p>\n

His voice, stripped of the high pitched bombast of old, is no less powerful for the hint of world weariness and vulnerability it now carries.<\/p>\n

And the ‘golden god’ proves he can still rock out with the best of them on heavier tracks like\u00a0Bodies of Saints<\/strong><\/em> and the\u00a0Chrissie Hynde\u00a0<\/strong>duet Bluebirds Over The<\/em> Mountain <\/strong>– a smart re-working of the\u00a0Ersel Hickey\u00a0<\/strong>original.<\/p>\n

While many of his contemporaries have either gone to seed, or contented themselves with lesser re-treads of past glories, Plant continues to tap a rich vein of stylistic reinvention.<\/p>\n

He may fear the “dimming of the light”\u00a0<\/em>but Carry Fire\u00a0<\/i>shows that in his 69th year, Robert Plant remains as relevant as he’s ever been.<\/p>\n