Francis Lung - Miracle
A beautiful experience...
Miracles defy the laws of nature. They don’t come round very often – if truly ever. But there’s a wondrous beauty inherent within miracles, and *Francis Lung* has sewn a slither of this into his glorious new album, ‘Miracle’.
The Manchester based singer-songwriter recorded this - his second album - in a studio in rural Wales early last year. And in a sense this ruralness permeates throughout the album itself. It represents a period of introspection for Lung, where he reflects on struggles with mental health, substance (ab)use and relationships, which largely contributed to his decision to give up alcohol.
Yet, encapsulated within this fragile shell of introspection lies a set of compositions which breathe with joyful energy. The album is cathartic in nature, as Lung finds an alternative to his inner demons through marrying the cinematic, dreamlike quality of his earlier music, both solo and as a member of WU LYF, with a classy style of pop songwriting.
‘Bad Hair Day’ brims with this class. It chucks in just about every trick in the pop songwriting book: alternating dynamics, half-time sections, layered build-ups, guitar solos… you name it. But every element fuses together so harmoniously; it’s clean, calculated and compact in equal measure. By the following track ‘Blondes Have More Fun’, the listener is ushered to a more intimate side of Lung’s psyche, which follows suit in the album’s title track ‘Miracle’.
Shifts in mood ebb and flow throughout. These are enhanced by a series of evocative, often eerie musical interludes which act as emotional, or aesthetic bridges between songs and complement the reflective tone of the record. The depth of the album’s musical arrangements – which features Lung on six different instruments throughout – provides textures which delicately differ in character from one another while also further emboldening its various musical interludes.
The slightly shorter B-side of ‘Miracle’ dwells somewhat further into the realms of struggle and self- pity. ‘Comedown (Again)’ is a particular track that wallows with lament through its crawling tempo, minimalistic arrangement and woe-worthy strings. Glimmers of light do seep through though: ‘Want 2 Want U’ and ‘The Let Down’ still tackle serious topics, but their gloominess is ephemeral among Lung’s boldly spirited arrangements.
In all, ‘Miracle’ delves the depths of human introspection with a tangibly cathartic gleam, imbued with an essence of that wondrous beauty that only miracles can possess.
*8/10*
Words:* Jamie Wilde *
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