Single Review: Milton Star - 'Things Fall Apart'.
One of the great joys of music is finding a song that's aged well. Music - like all aspects of art - has the ability to be timeless; to take the grace of time and not the wrinkles. Such was my surprise when I realised that 'Things Fall Apart' was in fact a new single as opposed to a forgotten gem from long ago. The influences are from times long passed but the outcome is as fresh as you could possible hope.
'Things Fall Apart' is the latest release from aspiring duo Milton Star. It opens with brooding strings, a real density of sound without like a jam session with too many guests. There isn't much in the way of singing here, which works absolutely perfectly. Instead of leading the song along and taking the attention away from the beautifully melancholy music, it acts itself as an additional instrument. One brief verse of words are sewn into the track; they speak of desperation and misery. This adds an intensity to the rest of the music that follows, which is quite a genius move.
The outro is merciless in its goodbye, The harmonica chimes over the continued background of sound and truly acts as a particularly moribund valediction. The aspects of blues/country here but it's been dragged into a darker place by Milton Star. The band hold influences from the likes of The Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart, right through to Ennio Morricone (Morricone's influence mostly telling with the moving strings orchestrating the tone)). When an amalgamation of influences like those come together, there is usually either something quite spectacular or really rather futile mess.
It's uncomfortably easy to sound like a sycophant when reviewing music that's sent across to you, but this absolutely is a track that's not just alluring but genuinely interesting. Moving forward, there's scope for an album with the accomplished diversity that Nick Cave is rightly famed for. There's also the chance of it becoming a mess and not working at all (cue picture of me pointing at a copy of 'Sandinista!'). 'Things Fall Apart' is gladly a nod toward the former.
Single Review by Jake Collins.