Perfumed Letter

Description

Perfumed Letter is the third solo album by the American singer and songwriter Bill Mallonee of Vigilantes of Love fame, released on Paste Music in 2003. The album was recorded and mixed by Tom Lewis with Bill Mallonee and Lewis producing.

The most ambitious album I ever made. Trippy, jangle-y, 60’s style, neo-psychedelic pop with plenty of hooks. Think Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever era. Perfumed Letter was recorded with Vigilantes of Love players Jake Bradley (bass), Kevin Heuer drums, Billy Holmes (guitar and keyboards), and Cason Cooley (keyboards). Like i said: With producer Tom Lewis at the helm, it was the most ambitious album I ever recorded and one of the most satisfying! – Bill Mallonee

After 13 years and 13 albums, Athens, Ga., songwriter Bill Mallonee is, to his fans, the Vigilantes of Love. But his solo debut clearly signals a new chapter, one marked by more elaborate arrangements and exquisite songcraft than the Vigilantes’ rootsier Americana-driven fare. This collection of brainy pop flirts with (but never drowns in) the Beatles and Beach Boys; «Two Become One» even channels both icons at once, aglow with Pet Sounds vocal nuances and lush production technique while keeping one eye trained on the bouncing power-pop ball. Like Todd Rundgren, Mallonee always puts an indelible stamp on his material. Witness blue-hued jangler «That Little Something», one of the most piercing heartbreak tunes since the Gin Blossoms’ classic «Found Out About You». Sings Mallonee, “It could’ve been the way/ Words fell off her tongue/ It could’ve been the way/ Her heart keeps moving on/ To a different beat/ She’s long gone,” and his trademark vocal quaver trembles just a tiny bit more than usual from the memory of her walking away one last time. Yet in the pulsebeat rhythm, soaring backing vocals and bruised McGuinn/Buck/Groovies guitar chords resides an exhilarating catharsis. The greatest sad songs can bring you to your knees, of course, but they also exist to pick you up. Here, Mallonee has left behind a perfumed letter for the ages. [Fred Mills, Magnet Magazine, August 2003]

CD tracklist:

01. She’s So Liquid – 2:59
02. Perfumed Letter – 4:38
03. Life On Other Planets – 4:24
04. Extraordinary Girl – 2:29
05. Two Become One – 4:20
06. Silver Transparent – 3:27
07. Crescent Moon – 4:47
08. That Little Something – 4:19
09. Wintergreen – 4:20
10. After All You’ve Done For Me – 4:52
11. Shirts And Skins – 6:04
12. (no audio) 1:32
13. Your Bright Future – 3:54

Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com/album/perfumed-letter

The new Bill Mallonee solo offering Perfumed Letter opens with the re-use of «She’s So Liquid» from the album Fetal Position. Also used again on the album is «Wintergreen». With great lines like “Tears were words and then again, fallen down like English rain” and “dead of night and the city’s bright, caught blinking at the traffic light. The tapes are so hard to erase” (from those songs respectively), I’m not complaining. In many ways they fit in remarkably better here. As does the theme of lost love from Locket Full of Moonlight which shows up in the project as well. It seems this is because this is the album Bill has been trying to make for two years, and the album his fans have been waiting for. I declare and anticipate the chorus to follow, Perfumed Letter is an amazing album which stands up to Bill’s best work throughout his career. The songs open up the way its title’s imagery would suggest, leaving its reader engrossed and hanging on every word.

The title track is Bill’s take two at the lamentation of love, where this time he succeeds. Here the depressing feel of his last album drops a couple notches in favor of something better described as heartbreaking, but much more accessible. The song laments “The moon is on the waters, the hands move on your face of a clock that has no memory of our farewell embrace”. «Life On Other Planets» tells about looking back on a childhood hope and innocence, remembering a time “when you believed in God and new romantics and life out there on other planets”. The beautiful music setting fits perfectly to the lyrics and is both well thought out and pleasantly catchy.

«Extraordinary Girl» starts off with a great riff, and is perhaps one of the most hopeful sounding things ever in a Bill Mallonee song. The background vocals are remarkable, and the song is beautifully toe tapping and poppy. The song showcases the beautiful thing about what Bill has done. The fact that once his music shined so brightly in a perfect setting of Americana roots-rock, and now he has just as masterfully conquered a more brit-pop soundscape. «Two Become One», possibly the highlight of the album, starts off with a pulsating organ beat. It’s filled great pop sensibilities you would expect from an early Blur album (I hear particular similarities to the sound of the ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ album.), yet the influences here show off what has to be a myriad of sources (but which have to be British… yes yes, very British). This results in production that rivals the beauty and creativity of the Vigilantes of Love work Summershine. The effect is captivating in a way Bill Mallonee has never been before.

«Transparence» is greatly heartbreaking. It tells about “Silver transparence, morphine drapes beside your bed, it’s the only way to take off the edge”. Here is the classic postmodern Bill, sharing the stories of complex characters in his music. «That Little Something» somehow teems with joy and optimism despite its lyrics diatribe of impossible love which won’t work out. Bill asks “Wonder why it feels like a coin toss, all the bridges that we build won’t hold when we cross” and the drums and guitars then release into a furious fill before coming back down to a tender conclusion. It’s amazing production and quite an amazing thing to hear. The song then features some terrific background vocals and a nice ending guitar solo.

In «After All You’ve Done for Me» the vocals are passionate and collide nicely with a unique faux horn and strings which send the song soaring with a remarkably original sound. On the closing «Shirts & Skins», Bill manages to pull another rabbit from his hat. This one sounds like nothing he’s done before. The wall of noise swells and builds around the piano in a very captivating fashion. Lyrically the song abandons most of the album’s focus on relationships and ends the album with a focus on just letting go of everything we have. This track concludes the main work of the album, but a bonus track «Your Bright Future» is featured which doesn’t really fit the material well, but is a great song off the Vigilantes of Love EP Electromeo so therefore a nice addition.

The production of Perfumed Letter is so amazing and provides for something beautiful to listen to (I’m especially a fan of the percussion!), but the driving force which is always there in Bill’s work is the lyrics. This is what truly makes the project something special. These songs turn heartache into a beautiful celebration. The quality is consistently good throughout the entire ambitious album and is Bill Mallonee at the top of his game. Although it seemed at first the solo career material couldn’t rival that from the Vigilantes of Love years, Perfumed Letter proves that the third time is a charm. Bill’s future work for years to come will constantly be compared to the material here. Superb. Simply a perfect album. [Matt Kilgore, The Phantom Tollbooth, 7/22/03]

When I asked Bill Mallonee about his motivation for taking such a drastic leap from one style guitar driven roots-rock to synth-based Britpop, he replied, “I like staying in motion. Most of the great artists are moving targets.”

Now available from Paste Records, Perfumed Letter is the first official solo album for Mallonee, who turned out several albums as the front man for Vigilantes of Love. And he has clearly moved on to a new place, a new sound, a new vision. Whether it suits him or not… that’s open for debate.

The album, produced by Mallonee, Tom Lewis, and Paul Wilkinson, is unmistakably Mallonee. The lyrics explore the wounds of relationship breakdown, guilt, regret, and near-despair, but just the fact that he is still openly appealing the Divine assures us that he has not lost a handle on hope.

It is good to hear him exploring different territory vocally. He sounds liberated, trying quieter modes, layering his voice into harmonies that at times echo the Beach Boys. It’s an ambitious work, lyrically playful and complex, with one foot in Beatles-land and the other in Dylan country. His signature style of wordplay and doublespeak is all over this rather light affair. And he proves yet again that he can turn out hooks with the best of them.

I applaud Mallonee’s desire to try new things, and there’s nothing wrong with a venture into Britpop. (He started that direction on VoL’s Summershine after all.) But something doesn’t feel right. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but for me the primary problem is Mallonee’s voice. It’s a great voice… for rock and roll, but not for pop. He sings with the rough edge of a southern country boy and the soul of a Jeff Tweedy, a Mike Scott, sometimes even Steve Earle. It doesn’t quite work for this new music, at least for this listener. Moogs, Mellotrons, and Clavanovas may be a match for power pop bands. But these songs long for heavier guitars.

Perhaps he is bored with the roots rock he’s known for. Lord knows he has worked hard at such stuff, pushing Vigilantes of Love records up a steep hill for several years, never quite breaking out onto the airwaves the way that critics and fans anticipated, never quite receiving the recognition he so clearly deserved.

Having said that, there are pleasant songs inside this untailored suit, and they may find more winning arrangements in upcoming live performances. «She So Liquid» is a great song, in spite of what sounds like a half-hearted performance here. «Wintergreen» will become a fan favorite on the strengths of its lyrics alone, but here it is weakened by a guitar solo that sounds more like a rip-off of George Harrison than a tribute or a reference.

«Luminous» adopts the lyrical mode of U2’s «Mysterious Ways», describing the consoling spirit as the muse or the beloved… perhaps even as Mary herself.

Made a visit to your garden
To come there and ask for pardon
My offense was very great,
my defense was second rate
She’s luminous, ya dig?
Yeah she’s so liquid

He speaks of a sense of mystery and grace “like angels in the trees looking on”, this muse’s kisses reminding him of “a wishing well.” The song finds him singing with enthusiasm and Beatles-esque backing vocals, but with a gentler touch than usual. Unfortunately, the pulsing keyboards make «Luminous» sound like its plodding when there’s a blazing song busting to get out of there.

The swirling, retro-keyboard sounds that introduce the title cut are a sign of trouble ahead. Synthesizers are a dangerous thing. They can provide subtle accents, as they do for The Innocence Mission. They can introduce us to new sounds (Radiohead), or they can sound retro. On Perfumed Letter, the keyboards simply sound uninventive. They’re not arresting or experimental as in a Radiohead song. They don’t glow, percolate, and pop the way they do for XTC, U2, World Party, or R.E.M.’s recent forays into power pop. There is nothing remarkable about them, whereas the guitars for Vigilantes were energetic, even riveting. In short, they sound like they could be easily reproduced by any keyboard player who stepped up to the keys.

He strikes a better balance in a few numbers: «Life on Other Planets» finds a glowing keyboard/guitar mix similar to REM’s «All the Way to Reno», becoming one of the album’s strongest tracks. The lyrics stick, detailing the allure of false advertising and the yearning for a restoration of childlike faith:

I’m always falling in love
With something other than you…
Drowning in a sadness I can’t hardly name
Easily swayed by the power of suggestion.
It’s always hard getting past those first impressions
I believe it turns to gold
Watch it begin to unfold
Like a story you’re once told
You believed in God
You knew Romantics
Life out there on other planets

The fiery guitars of «Extraordinary Girl» give the album a dose of clear adrenaline, a fiery tribute to his beloved Brenda, as if he wants her to hear it even though he’s “a million miles away.” In those speedy riffs, set to racing drums, you get a glimpse of what this could have been with a more demanding producer.

This all reminds me of the muddled puddle into which Bruce Cockburn stumbled in the 80s. While he wrote some of his strongest songs during that decade, he also made the recordings painfully dated, punctuating them with dominating keyboards that robbed them of the organic, visceral quality of his earlier and more recent records. He got rid of the superficial gloss and plays them in sparse, guitar-driven versions that resonate. Similarly, Mallonee’s discovery of keyboards has diluted the power of his compositions. Perhaps he too will come around to the same decision, or else he might find new and surprising ways to use keyboards that will produce something truly original for the listener.

For now, I’m left with the distinct impression that our front man isn’t quite ready for his spotlight. I’m not nostalgic for the Vigilantes; I’ve felt for a while that Mallonee was strong enough to go it on his own. And if he wants to paint with these colors for a while, it’ll never be less than interesting. But I think Audible Sigh remains the most urgent and immediate Mallonee material of recent years, even if those songs are ancient history for the singer himself. [Jeffrey Overstreet, The Phantom Tollbooth, 8/29/2003]