The The
Ensoulment
Cinéola / earMUSIC
It’s been 25 years since the reclusive singer/composer Matt Johnson last released music as The The. That doesn’t mean he has been away from music. He’s spent most of this long hiatus in the shadows, writing film scores primarily for indie documentaries. Johnson has also been busy with his Cinéola record label, which specializes in soundtrack and spoken word releases, and a book publishing project called Fifty First State Press.
Matt reformed The The in 2017 and released a live album called The Comeback Special in 2018. Now the time is right for The The’s first collection of new music in 25 years, called Ensoulment.
Ensoulment is full of Johnson’s literate songs of vaguely optimistic dystopian narratives. A perfect example of this odd blending of the humorous and macabre is the single, “Sometimes I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake.” The title gives us an odd image to consider while Johnson sings lines like “This greedy, unpleasant land/ Wraps itself in a flag/ pretending it’s freedom and dictatorship in drag.” The dismal world of modern singledom is explored on “Zen and the Art of Dating.” “Swipe to the left/ Swipe to the right/ she needs somebody tonight.” Looking for love in the vapid expanse of cyberspace doesn’t seem very exciting. The closest The The comes to a regular love song is “I Want to Wake Up With You.”
Matt ponders the existential question of existence on “Life After Life” and “Where Do We Go When We Die?” Mortality has always been a topic in Matt Johnson’s work, but the passing of the artist Andy Dog (who created The The’s album covers and was Matt’s brother) adds a deeper level of introspection.
Matt takes another swipe at the US/UK “special relationship” on “Kissing the Ring of POTUS.” “Is this how the empire dies? It’s constitution withered on the vine / Trumped up by the dollar and the drone?” The songs on Ensoulment are decorated with enticing and exotic sounds. They support the mood of Matt’s often almost whispered vocals. I’m not sure how such a collection of pessimistic songs still somehow exudes a modicum of hope. That’s what The The does better than anyone else.
