Album Review: Scott Walker - Bish Bosch

It's rather easy to arrive prematurely at a judgement when in the early stages of listening to an album such as Bish Bosch. The fact that it follows in the path of two such extraordinary albums, Tilt (1995) and The Drift (2006), inevitably leads to immense expectations whilst allowing preconceived fears of disappointment to colour the initial acquaintance. Yes, it's longer and perhaps even more difficult than its predecessors; however, this shouldn't act as a deterrent from arriving at a full appreciation of its vast bounties. Rather, here stands a work which reminds that some bounties may only be borne of a committed and contemplative listening approach.  

As if in honour of Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden Of Earthly Delights, Bish Bosch is an overwhelmingly detailed work that is perpetually elusive in its complexity. Remarkable in both form and content, it's composed of a vast theatre of sounds. Punctuated by a script of heavy silences, SDSS1416 + 13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter) is a 21-minute epic that enlists a great plethora of sonic disturbances. Fluidity is achieved through the pieces by way of both Walker's characteristic vocals and the constancy of inconsistence; for instance the sporadic arrival and departure of bold, seemingly disjointed and often dissonant, aural musings. These amputated soundscapes act as haunting visitations that compliment and disturb Walker's evocative narratives. And in the case of Epizootics! such compliments are extended even further with a ten-minute video that's among the most exquisite in recent memory.

Both confronting and demanding, the Bish Bosch experience may not be for all; however, it's certainly welcome to finally complete one of the great trilogies of contemporary music.