TheThe - Naked Self (Naked Self - TheThe)

Member Name: fletcherja

Product:	Naked Self - TheThe
Date:	12/10/00 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wonderfully crafted album from an accomplished musician.

Disadvantages: Only his third tour in 20 years.

The much admired Matt Johnson returns in his guise as "TheThe" with a new album "Naked Self"and a self financed world tour that finishes on December 10th at the Royal Festival Hall.

After a gap in his musical output of nearly eight years, and two changes of record label in that time, many lesser artists could simply have said "Sod this - I've had enough of the music industry" and disappeared into anonymity and obscurity.

Thankfully, Matt Johnson is made of sterner stuff.

Naked Self cuts through to the soul of Johnson, exploring a thoughtful and world-weary mind, and he still cares enough to stand on a soapbox and scream, “The world should be a better place!”

The artwork on the cover, a single naked light bulb reflecting a halo from a bare ceiling, sets the tone for a deep introspective into the recent years of Johnson’s travelling and experiences.

For those familiar with the previous four “TheThe” albums (five, if you include the first solo album “Burning Blue Soul”), this will come as a heavier (both musically and intellectually) outpouring of emotions. Having built a band of musicians that he is happy to write and work with (and who can endure Johnson’s single minded approach of “perfection or nothing”), rather than a collective of session musicians as seen in the past. This rockier incarnation will impress those dedicated fans (like myself) and any newcomers to the wonderful and twisted world that is TheThe.

The tracks on Naked Self run as follows: Boiling Point, Shrunken Man, The Whisperers, Soul Catcher, Global Eyes, December Sunlight, Swine Fever, Diesel Breeze, Weather Belle, Voidy Numbness, Phantom Walls, SaltWater.

The outstanding track for me is “GlobalEyes” with it’s wonderful mantra of “Gotta Buy, Gotta Gotta Buy It” simultaneously tempting you into commercial acquisitio
n whilst compelling you to deplore worldwide globalisation and the politics of the conglomerates.

The anthemic, almost hymn like quality of Voidy Numbness, makes you hit the repeat button on your CD player over and over again, until it’s part of you and you’re part of it. Reminiscent of the closing track “GIANT” on the first album (Soul Mining) it beds itself deep into you mind.

You can read his tirade “TheThe Versus The Corporate Monster Manifesto” on www.thethe.com, and get all the tour dates, as well as download MP3’s of tracks from the new album.

For me it’s a welcome return of the melancholy aura of Matt Johnson, with his wonderfully dark, haunting lyrics and music. The new band members are individually phenomenal musicians, as a collective they are simply the best band in the world.

If you get a chance to catch them on their tour, I promise that you’ll be amazed that you managed to miss them all this time.

When you can track down Naked Self, you will play it LOUD and OFTEN.

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