Brian Eno 29: Forever And Ever No More

Since the start of the century’s second decade, Brian Eno had kept up a fairly consistent release schedule, showing no signs of slowing down as he approached and hit his 70s. Maybe time spent locked down during the Covid pandemic inspired him to start singing again. But while ForeverAndEverNoMore indeed has vocals and lyrics throughout, it’s in no way a throwback to his first solo albums, nor even Another Day On Earth. For one, it’s very slow.

“Who Gives A Thought” rumbles into place over an ambient bed, and his sad melody wonders about the fate of the planet. The melody finds a major key for the more hopeful “We Let It In”, his daughter Darla providing the key (in this case, the sun). “Icarus Or Blériot” goes dark again, ruminating on whether we should really be exploring the skies, while “Garden Of Stars” envisions a horrible end to it all as the music increases in static and tension. The all-instrumental “Inclusion”, with violin and viola played by a musician who’d also worked for Bryan Ferry, provides respite from the gloom.

With the sounds of birds subtly in the mix, “There Were Bells” is almost poetic as it surveys the scenery, whereas “Sherry” resembles a haiku, the piano following his vocal closely. Darla returns to color “I’m Hardly Me”, her soprano helping disguise his bleak and slow words. “These Small Noises” is sung partially as a duet with Irish musician Clodagh Simonds taking the lead over Jon Hopkins’ stately, almost hymnal piano. While mostly ambient, “Making Gardens Out Of Silence In The Uncanny Valley” sports the processed voice of occasional collaborator Kyoko Inatome, whom he first met when she was a waitress at a sushi restaurant he frequented. (No, really.) It’s even more soothing than “Intrusion”, and a wonderful way to end the album. (Also, the eight-minute streaming version is five minutes shorter than the CD version.)

Just because he could, the album was remixed, tracks retitled, and released six months later in the Forever Voiceless edition, giving listeners the opportunity to get lost in the music without worrying about the planet or vocal distraction. (His, anyway; some of the other vocalists remained in the mix.) Here the album becomes a sequel more obviously in the tradition of the longer interludes on The Ship or the busier moments on Reflection—occasionally pleasant, sometimes dark.

Brian Eno ForeverAndEverNoMore (2022)—3