Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There will always be those musicians who seem to pack in so many different styles and varieties into their albums that it can feel as if they have found the recipe for the perfect selection box. The sound of the horn encased within one layer and wrapping, the texture of a night spent with friends in a New Orleans Jazz Bar nestled firmly in to the box and the nugget of the right blend and satisfied crunch of flourish and thriving fanfare that makes any selection box worth having any time of year.
The German Alphabet may not seem to have much to do with temptation, of putting yourself into the position where your fingers cannot help but drum out on the side of the case, of knowing wherever you start on the album it will not matter ultimately because your brain will succumb to each moment of pleasure regardless. In fact, the only difference is that there is no way that the latest album by the sensational Thomas Lang will leave you feeling lethargic and stuffed, if anything the experience will be one that leaves you full of vitality and brandishing the good times deep into your soul beyond the initial unwrapping.
Thomas Lang brings together the sound of the noir, of the thought of the secret agent running in the shadows in a war torn Europe, of fantasy and illusion to the listener’s mind, the ticking of the invisible clock slowly eating away at Time is to be heard hurriedly making mischief and throughout each song the overriding sense of music being given a purpose is palpable and not without the ecstasy of the grand gesture tightly secured from the musician’s own imagination.
In songs such as the captivating Pale Imitation, Colorado Boulevard, Kiss The Caravan and Be Missing, Thomas Lang’s appeal is never in question, these are songs of giants, of the colossal made accessible and ones that the makers of the eternal selection box joyfully put out to particular musicians knowing there will not be a single sweet song left untouched.
A beautiful, stirring, highly imaginative album which continues the work of a extremely talented man, The German Alphabet is an album for all.
Thomas Lang’s The German Alphabet is released on September 30th 2016 through Klee Music. Thomas Lang will be performing at the Liverpool Music Room on September 30th.
Ian D. Hall