Title: As If To Nothing
Artist: Craig Armstrong
Release Date: 16/04/2002
Record Label: Melankolic /
Virgin Records
Tracklisting:
1.
Ruthless Gravity (5:50)
2.
Wake Up in New York, featuring Evan Dando (3:30)
3.
Miracle, featuring Mogwai (3:19)
4.
Amber (5:09)
5.
Finding Beauty (3:38)
6.
Waltz, featuring Antye Greie-Fuchs (5:16)
7.
Inhaler (4:55)
8.
Hymn 2 (4:49)
9.
Snow, featuring David McAlmont (3:52)
10.
Starless II (4:36)
11.
Stay (Faraway So Close), featuring Bono of U2 fame (6:01)
12.
Niente (4:48)
13.
Sea Song, featuring Wendy Stubbs (5:54)
14.
Let it Be Love, featuring Steven Lindsay (3:50)
15.
Choral Ending (2:47)
Second solo
album released by
Craig Armstrong (after
The Space Between Us in 1998). Follows on in much the same vein as his earlier work, combining
Craig's
classical training with the styles adopted on his works with the likes of
Massive Attack.
Boasting only 5 non-
instrumental tracks, the
album can at times feel like a sprawling beast not sure of where to go and some of the tracks feel like
filler. Having said that, there is a lot to like,
Steven Lindsay's (not a name I'd heard before) wonderful voice on
Let It Be Love, the obvious
Mogwai influence on
Miracle, and the
U2 cover (
reworking?),
Stay (Faraway So Close) if you're into
that kind of thing.
I don't want this writeup to sound too
negative as Craig is a wonderful
musician and this
album has spent a lot of time in my CD player, it's just that when compared to earlier works (specifically the brilliance of
The Space Between Us), it's a bit of a let down.