Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album “Mercy”. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all Mercy II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.
And so, on “POPtical Illusion“, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, “POPtical Illusion” is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as Cale always has.
“Sometimes you write a song purely for a mood,” John Cale says of his new single “Shark-Shark” and it’s video by Abigail Portner. “‘Shark-Shark’ has two versions – both a nod to finding humour in music. When you’re feeling too much of the real world, the best diversion is something that puts a grin on your face. I don’t know how Abby & team kept this shoot together – being ‘unserious’ was a lot of fun!” New album “POPtical Illusion” is out June 14 via Domino Recordings.
A bit over ten years separated John Cale’s 2012 album “Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood” and his next LP of original material, 2023’s “Mercy”. Chalk it up to a more dedicated creative focus or simply momentum, but a mere 18 months passed before Cale delivered his follow-up to “Mercy”, 2024’s “Poptical Illusion”.
As the title suggests, “Poptical Illusion” is a bit more approachable than the dark, forbidding tone of “Mercy”. While the arrangements are largely built around electronics, in terms of melodies, the songs recall the more graceful tone of albums like 1970’s “Vintage Violence” and 1973’s “Paris 1919”, and the material has a warmth missing from much of Cale’s catalogue, even if the performances on tracks like “I’m Angry” and “Edge of Reason” are nearly as spare as those on 1982’s brilliant but harrowing “Music for a New Society”, and the rhythmic chatter of “Company Commander” suggests a dance track without the central pulse that would make it user-friendly. “Mercy” was an often mournful work, full of damaged lives in a world succumbing to its own chaos; “Poptical Illusion” isn’t as heavily invested in its clouds of ambient sound and doomstruck navel-gazing (and it doesn’t feature a raft of guest stars, with Cale handling most of the instrumental work himself), and the observations are more personal than political. However, just as “Mercy” found Cale sounding fully engaged in new music after a long period of working with others or examining his past, “Poptical Illusion” is full of ideas and energy, perhaps not the work of a man full of hope but certainly one with plenty to say. At the age of 82, Cale’s music is fresh and contemporary in a way very few of his peers can manage, making use of the seemingly endless palate of electronic sounds in a way that engages the head and the heart, and even the darkest selections here display a bold, uncompromising humanity that turns his pessimism into a rage against the dying of the light. He is also in fine voice, singing with a force and control that’s as flexible as it was 50 years ago. John Cale may be a respected elder statesman of adventurous music that explores the nexus of rock and art, but on “Poptical Illusion” he sounds like a contemporary artist bubbling over with ideas and the will to execute them. It may not be especially optimistic, but it’s certainly powerful and inspiring, and we probably need that more from Cale than forced cheeriness, a skill he need not acquire this far into his career.
John Cale – “Shark-Shark” from the album ‘POPtical Illusion’ out now on Double Six / Domino.
The Fat Angel Sings 