To follow Scott Walker's career is like traveling on a parallel universe where things look similar but are very different than things back home. "Nite Flights" is the last album from The Walker Brothers. I think they realize that this road is coming to a dead end, and decided to make an album that will please themselves, but also their need to explore other sounds, yet, keep The Walkers mystique in order. In a sense, it's three solo albums in one package, with four songs by Scott, four by John Walker, and two by their 'drummer' Gary. The big surprise is how good the Gary cuts are on this album. "Death of Romance" and "Den Haague" have a groove, but Scott through the production gives it another dimension sonically. I don't know the working relationship between the "brothers," but I feel that Gary was more in tune with Scott's experimentation and sense of adventure. The John Walker cuts are OK, but the one song of his that stands out is "Rhythm of Vision" just due to the chorus hook.
The masterpieces here are of course from Scott, and it is a blueprint of the type of music he will do in the future. Although it seems he dropped out of releasing music for five years until his next recording "Climate of Hunter." A lot of listeners separate the early Scott from the current Scott, but in my opinion, I think he has been consistent ever since his early work with The Walker Brothers. He moves slow, but his thinking and art making of sounds has been consistent. "Nite Flights" is the first 'obvious' step into making new music that is emotionally drained, dark humor, and contained in a space. I often think of Walker's work as a piece of sonic sculpture, and here he takes the first step to make that happen.
The way the album is set up is that you have four songs by Scott, two by Gary, and then the remaining four by John. So physically there are two EPs by Scott and John, and a single by Gary. The album opens up with the Scott Walker's set, and it is a collaboration in the sense that John sings along with Scott, but beyond that, the density of the recording/sounds is very much like a solo Scott album. I feel that these four songs were very much influenced by David Bowie's "Low," in that they are pop songs, but filtered through a relentless rhythm that gives it a Claustrophobic feel with the urgent voices of Scott and John. Probably the most well-known song here is the title cut, "Nite Flights" which Bowie covered on his album "Black Tie White Noise. A beautiful song that seems to belong to both Bowie and Scott. "The Electrician" is a combination of Scott's new direction, but also his later film composing. The string section is lovely, but it does go against the darkness of the main melody, which causes tension. And Scott Walker is the genius of music tension.
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