Filth and Dreams

专辑介绍：by Nick DedinaAfter utilizing a full band and employing a richer, more organic sound with their previous three releases, Swing Out Sister returned to the more keyboard-driven approach of their first two albums with Filth and Dreams. However, this is an infinitely stronger album then their earlier releases, with the band more creative, sonically eccentric, and confident than they were when they were earning placements on the adult contemporary charts back in the late '80s and early '90s. One of the albums strengths is that vocalist Corinne Drewery has completely abandoned her periodic tendency to pen positive affirmations instead of more personal lyrics. For these songs, probably the strongest batch the band has penned, Drewery embraces both abstraction and English melancholy more fully than in the past. Likewise, multi-instrumentalist Andy Connell and longtime producer Paul Staveley O'Duffy are able to capture the 1960s and early-'70s soft pop sounds that Swing Out Sister love so much and make them sit naturally fit with darkly modern club touches. This approach is most readily apparent on the album's highlights, "Happy When You're High," which finds Drewery chanting "good things are fast becoming a thing of the past" over an acid jazz solo and the dark-night-of-the-soul ballad "Invisible," which is highlighted by a surprisingly raw, emotionally naked vocal from the singer who is so often compared (wrongly) to Basia. Filth and Dreams was only released in Japan (where Swing Out Sister continued to top the charts), which is a shame considering that this album features their most consistently strong batch of songs.