When I heard that Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante had a new album coming out, I was leery. After all, this would be the guy who, during the Nineties, who recorded Niandra LaDes & Usually Just A T-Shirt, an album that has the classic ‘Your Pussy’s Glued To A Building That’s On Fire’. Ahem. Recorded on a set of four tracks while in the wild throes of a heroin addiction, this wasn’t exactly Frusciante at his finest. The follow-up to that release, Smile From The Streets You Hold, was of comparable fare, which isn’t saying a whole lot. His third album, To Record Water For Ten Days, also happened to be the first album he did after ridding himself of his vice and was a remarkable improvement, although it wasn’t anything spectacular. With When Shadows Collide With People, Frusciante seems to be onto something, and damned if I’m not biting.
The album glides along at it’s own pace for the first four tracks, giving you a rather relaxed and chilled vibe. The most notable thing one hears upon listening to the first track is that it’s quite obvious that Frusciante has been taking singing lessons of some kind…he actually sounds quite good and is able to carry himself through songs with some kind of authority. Frusciante seems like he’s a kid in a candy store here, experimenting with different effects of all kinds, tinkering with his voice and creating new sounds in tunes like ‘Carvel’. ‘Omission’ almost sounds like a pop tune, the song ensnaring you with it’s hooks as it cruises along. ‘Wednesday’s Song’ comes across as sounding like another brilliantly written pop song that could’ve passed as a Chili Peppers b-side in a flash.
‘This Cold’, ‘Second Walk’ & ‘Water’ provide a break from the relaxed vibe that Frusciante has set on the record, giving you some upbeat tracks to work with, breaking the steady beat he had going through the song, while experimental instrumental tracks like ‘-00Ghost27’ and ‘Failure33Object’ sound like something that might’ve been culled from some jam sessions with Radiohead or something. The great thing about all of this? It all somehow fits into a beautiful mix that continues to make you sit up and pay attention to the CD and it’s sound as you make your way through the listen.
Fellow Chili Peppers bandmates Flea & Chad Smith make brief appearances on the album, contributing to a track or two, although the album still distinctly remains Frusciante’s. The addition of some professional recording equipment, as opposed to the 4/8 tracks used in the recording of his previous efforts have also helped to improve the sound and make the CD itself far more enjoyable. Without a doubt, an early album that might get pegged as being in my Top Ten by the year’s end. It’s seriously that good.
