London Plane is a six-piece musical entity composed of David Mosey (guitar and vocals), Jessica Cole (vocals), Bryan Garbe (drums), Grant Parker (bass), Julian Tulip (synths) and Kristofer Widholm (guitar). Their roots trace back to 2014 backstage at a tribute show to the recently deceased Lou Reed when Psychedelic Furs’ Joe McGinty introduced David to Jessica, who were both performing.

London Plane will be releasing their sophomore album ‘Bright Black’ via Declared Goods on June 17. The press release tells me that London Plane would have appealed to fans of Bowie XTC, Gary Numan (this is a for sure, I hear Mr. Numan loud and clear in London Plane), Interpol, Bauhaus, Yeah Yeah Yeah (yeah, that fits), Shriekback, Protomartyr, The Primitives, The KVB, Iggy Pop (I didn’t hear that) and The Cramps.

That cuts a wide swath and establishes a very high bar for London Plane to reach up to, let alone jump over. Allow me to tell you what I heard when I listened to Bright Black.

I heard nonsense. Consider these lyrics, if you will. 

“Zizza zizz resister/wholly adore

Vizza vizz aglister/when there were more”

There is no Zizza in my dictionary. There is a zizz, and It means a whizzing or buzzing sound. No Vizza, or vizz, or aglister, nothing. Pure nonsense. Is this a problem? No, of course not. Just yesterday, I was mulling and musing on the poetry of Lewis Carrol. David Mosey is in good company when it comes to nonsensical literature.

The song changes gears in the following two lines of the song Bright Black.

“Armies are all the same/When they fall; they’re replaced.

If it goes black/let it go bright black.”

Our history as humans consists primarily of one war followed by a conflict followed by a coup. One job after another for armies, it’s always the same. The soldiers fall in battle, and another one steps in to fill the gap; they all get replaced.

Now we come to a line that caught my attention.

“If it goes black/let it go bright black.”

If it goes black, in other words, if everything fails and there is no colour left, let it be bright, bright black. Can black be bright? Can black have gradients of colour? Yes, yes. I paint dioramas and scale models as a hobby, and there are many black colours. There is carbon black, gloss black, metallic black, NATO black, tire black, flat black, matte black, etc. There are dozens of variants of the colour black. Which technically is the lack of any colour. But for argument’s sake, we will treat it as a colour. What can I do if it is going to be black if the world is falling all around me? I can go down and give up or rise above the muck and the mire and paint my world bright black. If it has to be black, it might just as well be bright black. A glimmer of hope can be found even amid blackness, a radiant glow of black hope.

Watch That Madman Go is another interesting song. I think the song is about leaders behaving like madmen. The list is long, so I won’t bore you or I with it. I like the concept in the song where things like blackness, or corrupt politicians, can creep up without people raising alarm bells until it’s too late; the madman is loose. It’s along the lines of the frog in the pot. The temperature goes up so slow the frog doesn’t realize it’s in danger until it’s too late.

Bright Black is an interesting album. The lyrics aim at blackness and then offer a glimmer of light. There is a good balance, and the world isn’t all black. Musically they are very talented. I can’t nail their sound down to any single “it sounds like” example, but you can take some of the fans’ suggestions as examples. No, it would be best if you listened to Bright Black and then told me what London Plane sounds like to you.

I look forward to hearing what others hear. No two people hear a song the same way; we all have unique perceptions. I enjoyed this album, perhaps not a ten, but it is a good album.

FOR SHARING

Bandcamp https://londonplane.bandcamp.com/album/bright-black

‘Bright Black’ LP pre-order / pre-save https://found.ee/yM0q4

‘Come Out of the Dark’ https://youtu.be/x_9Rj6WgmRA

‘Come Out of the Dark’ order  https://found.ee/kvlFm

‘Bright Black’ single order https://found.ee/vFw9O

‘Francesco (Italiano)’ https://youtu.be/g0PQQvJVJLk

‘Watch That Madman Go’ https://youtu.be/ODXMrKP0Uyc

‘Francesco’ (original version) https://youtu.be/UT6Ct3jUlBw

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