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Across the Universe
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 (With Our Thanks to Across the Universe- The Australian Beatles Fanzine) INTO THE SUN-By Sean Lennon Reviewed by Ms. Frantique Rotalacta Now this CD makes old Frantique swish around her lounge room in gay abandon, lifting up her skirt to do a blue flame jig. yes this album is really that good. I know some of our older more "staid" readers may find this a confronting listening experience but to them I say "cast off your zimmer frames and wobble over to your gramophones granddad and grandma and crank it up!! Music is heading into the 21st Century and Sean's CD is the perfect vehicle to take us there. It really is a mixture of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The opening track, "Mystery Juice," highlights this point perfectly. The song begins with a sparse acoustic guitar and organ backing but soon blazes into a "soundgardenesque" grunge fest. The last part of the song chills out into a laid back jam and in a strange twist, ends with a sample of the seaside, perhaps lifted from "Beautiful Boy." This seaside sample features in a lot of Yoko's solo recordings as well. The next song is the title track, "Into the Sun" and it is just so cool. Picture yourself at an early sixties cocktail party and you'll get the idea. This is a "cha cha boom" song and sounds as if Sean has been having a fiddle on Uncle Paul's mellotron and come up with his own "Hertschweig Von Schnurpeintein" epic.
The thing I really love about this CD is Sean's use of old analogue equipment including the instruments. It really has a very warm sound to it. The next track is "Home" and the vibes played her show up the use of analogue really well. I do hear a little "fab" influence creep in on this track but at no stage during the album does it ever become a Beatle "pastiche." This song even has "Hariesque" slide guitars. A well deserved first single. "Bathtub" on the first listen showed up Sean's vocal limitations but on subsequent spins, I've become enamored of his almost child-like vocals. I think I fell prey to the dodgy area of "comparisons" with "you know who" but this track is a lively, trippy relaxed little ballad. Another point about this CD is the eclectic mix of styles. When I first got it, I thought it would be mainly grunge or pop, but how wrong I was. In one song alone, Sean goes from bossa nova to pop to grunge. Every track keeps you interested. "One Night": Welcome back to the cocktail party slaggers, sit back and relax as tonight's entertainment plays us a lovely ballad on acoustic guitar and...wood saw! "Spaceship" would be my choice for a second single because like "Mystery Juice," it starts off with acoustic backing but then shifts into grunge mode and back again. Tim Ellis' backing vocals lend an eerie feel to this tune. Whoo!! Now we're talkin'! "Photosynthesis" (which at one point was to be the title of the album) is awesome. It sounds like a free-form jazz jam, but is a little too structured for that. The drumming on this instrumental is a highlight. Half brother Julian has been heard in interviews being less than enthusiastic about this being Sean's debut release, alluding to the fact that he's a "little too out there." But this is exactly the thing that elevates it above a lot of other releases, including Julian's current same old stodgy effort. As I said earlier, the influences are wide and varied on this album, including Beach Boys, Doors, Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth, but amazingly, Sean never falls into the trap of ripping off any artist. Just subtle nods and winks. The next track, "Queue," proves this as it's like the Beach Boys meet the Saturday morning cartoons. In fact, I can just see Tracy from "The Partridge Family" shaking her tambourine out of time along to this tune with "Josie and the Pussycats" dancing next to her. I guarantee you'll be singing this song all day after hearing it, which can also be said for most of the album. "Two Fine Lovers" is for some reason reminscent of a mid-70's Stevie Wonder track. It has that 70's moog sound throughout (Linda would be proud) and a chorus that screams "singalong." I can't emphasize enough the warmth of this recording, the sounds are just so rich. Lyrically, most of the album is made up of love songs to his girlfriend and band member, Yuka, but old Franny has to tip her hat to Sean as he never falls into the sickly, "Moon, Spoon, June" mode which the subject of burgeoning love lends itself to. "Part One of the Cowboy Trilogy: Yee ha! Grab ya partner by the tongue, swing 'em 'round and have some fun. This sounds like it could have been written as the theme song for an early Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. It even feature a "doi-ing" jaws harp! I do believe this is the first time I've ever heard the word "Cock-a-doodle" used in a song, correct me if I'm wrong.
"Wasted" is as stripped back and basic as you can get. All it features is the words "It's all but a waste" repeated over and over to Sean's basic jazz-tinged piano and it works! With the next track, "Breeze," we slip back into Claudine Longet territory a'la "Into the Sun" with some more cool cocktail music featuring Sean's much-loved Cha Cha rhythm box. Perhaps saving the best to last? "Sean's Theme" is a real smoky slow jazz song with a nice string line and fantastic trumpet. I lurve this song! The horns remind me of New Orleans funeral music and as the song fades the seaside sample is heard once again, but this time with a soft voice saying "Goodnight Sean" over the top, hmmm. There is a mystery non-listed 14th track which is very brief and is just Sean mumbling over some free form drums and handclaps. In rounding off, I've got to say I'm mega impressed with this album. I've long sing given up buying Beatle product just because it has some association with them and nowadays a product has to earn its way into my collection. Without any question, even if this didn't have Sean Lennon's name attached to it, I would have rated it just as highly. Well that's me, all reviewed out for this issue. Poor old Franny feels as if she's ben channeling "Molly" Meldrum (and that dear readers is a very scary concept.) And suntil next time this is Frantique Rotalacta signing off from the "Rotalacta Campaign Office To Keep the Fabs Free From Facial Fur."
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