Review Summary: Thinner at the waistline
The difference between
Good Nature and its predecessor is one of focus, of clarity. This is an album where what was previously in the,
sigh, peripheral vision has been placed in-focus, centre-stage and rendered undeniable. The problem is: what was so appealing as a blurry, half-remembered thought is nothing special when recaptured; David Gilmour never clarified that fleeting glimpse out of the corner of his eye, because he knew (like we all do) that it could never live up to what we'd made it to be in our heads.
Where, then, to look?
Peripheral Vision was a sly, duplicitous album, where shocking acts of violence and suicidal thoughts sat comfortably alongside guitar lines made from pure childhood memories and summer sunshine (see: "Cutting My Fingers Off", "Take My Head"). On
Good Nature Turnover dive headfirst into the shimmering pool of nostalgia, chasing a butterfly dream but finding only empty tricks of the light. They feint towards self-awareness -
'maybe I imagined it being so good' goes "Super Natural", like a tacit acknowledgement of the long shadow cast by
Peripheral Vision - but ultimately this is a simple album full of simple lyrics, with little subtlety or thought to speak of.
There's technically very little to fault here. Serviceable hooks buoy up better tracks like "Super Natural" and "Nightlight Girl", while those effervescent guitar melodies take us by the hand to provide the only truly great moment as "Bonnie (Rhythm & Melody)" winds to a close. It's just that there's so damn little to praise, too.
Good Nature recaptures the brightness and pop sheen, sure, but it's a trip back to a treasured childhood location only to find that the palace in your mind was always just a fallen tree, and the river your dreams used to float along forever is just a kinda gross, muddy little stream.
