I never separate Scott Walker by decades or music or his various albums. I see his work as one whole piece from the first Walker Brothers album to his last album: "The Childhood Of A Leader." In other words, there is no old or new Scott, just Scott Walker music. From the very beginning, one could hear him from then to here. He's the most consistent music maker who has now been making music for over 50 years. "The Childhood Of A Leader" is a soundtrack album, but to me, that doesn't even make that big of a difference from his previous albums. This is his first fully orchestrational instrumental album - but Scott always has done instrumental albums, with his vocals as part of the instrumentation of his recordings. I can imagine some of the instruments here on this album replacing his vocal line. The album is dense, with short pieces of music, but classical in tone, and in style. I think Webern more than Bachrach. Speaking of the devil (angel?) I have been listening to Webern's music, and it reminds me of Scott Walker's take on orchestration and intensity. There is a lineage from Schoenberg, Berg, Webern to Scott Walker. Walker is not only a great poet (lyricist) but also a fantastic composer.
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