Essential Albums: All Thieves - We Are All Thieves (Promo)

All Thieves
We Are All Thieves (Promo)
2009 (Unreleased)
Chrysalis Music

Buy This Album (Unavailable)

The very first record I ever inducted into my Essential Albums category on this blog was Dusted's When We Were Young.  Dusted was the side project of Faithless creator and famous electronic music producer Rollo Armstrong and his friend Mark Bates, and it was a far cry from the dance music that made Faithless an international success. 

Far more introspective and melodic, When We Were Young was something of a musical storybook with artwork that recalled Maurice Sendak's classic childrens' tale Where The Wild Things Are to boot.  It was, and remains, a beautiful, brilliant album with layers of sounds and samples that yield new discoveries with each listen even years later.  Peaceful and serene at times, dark and sinister at others, When We Were Young remains my favorite work from Rollo to date, despite the wonderful output of his far more famous band.

Several years later, When We Were Young was rerecorded and retitled.  This time, Rollo's kid sister Dido provided vocals for many of the songs, several were removed and replaced, and the ones that remained had been heavily reworked.  The thematic elements of the music were even put into a companion book.  This album, retitled Safe From Harm, was still worthwhile, though it lacked the magic of the original recording on which it was based.

With Faithless on hiatus, Rollo has turned his attention to producing more new acts, beginning with British singer/songwriter Kristian Leontiou's One eskimO, who are currently getting some heavy buzz as an opening act for Tori Amos on her U.S. tour.  Their debut CD, All Balloons, is slated for release this fall, and the circulating 10-track promo is nothing short of spectacular.

So what happens when Rollo, Mark Bates, Leontiou and female vocalist Bailey Tzuke (daughter of singer Judie Tzuke) join forces for a new project?  Magic.

It's sort of unfair for me to review an album that isn't out yet, and doesn't even have a release date, but sometimes you just hear a piece of music that is so incredible and so moving that you have to tell someone.  I'm not reviewing this to be an elitist, but merely to tell people that when this album does see release, it is your duty to experience it for yourself.

All Thieves is a reimagined version of Dusted, according to Bates himself on the band's former MySpace profile, and many of the same sensibilities have carried over.  We Are All Thieves is a largely downbeat record, populated mostly by slower songs and with nothing even close to resembling the 4x4 dancefloor stompers Faithless effortlessly pumps out. 

In my review of One eskimO's All Balloons promo, I suggested that it would be interesting to hear an album of more electronic-oriented songs similar to that album's standout, "UFO".  We Are All Thieves is that album.

There is lush orchestration, both real and artificial, ethereal vocals, drum machines, a bevy of keyboards and sequencers, and all manner of other electronics.  Somehow, amidst all this so-called soulless technology, an album of radiant beauty emerges.  For those who think electronic music lacks heart, one listen to We Are All Thieves will change your mind.  Leontiou's vocals are simply perfectly suited for this type of material, and Tzuke (whose mother provided vocals for Hybrid's "Falling Down" on their LP, I Choose Noise) joins the ranks of songstresses like Dido and Tracey Thorn as a gift to electronica.

Opening with the somber and minimalist "Turn And Turn Again", Tzuke provides soft, whispery vocals over a quietly humming keyboard, pleading for peace, though fearing we may already be past the point of no return and only tragedy may be capable of making us act like human beings.  It's a powerful message, poetically constructed and it's not at all the type of thing you're accustomed to hearing on most electronic works.

Hot on the heels of the album's mellow opener is the funky "Only Of You", which marks Leontiou's first vocal appearance.  This version has been fleshed out a bit from the earlier preview on the All Thieves MySpace page, with the addition of live strings that compliment the throbbing beat, giving the song an almost-disco vibe, but without all the cheese. 

"Dexter" immediately slows the album back down with another mellow, rather sinister sound.  Inspired by the television show of the same name, the video is even comprised entirely of clips.  The song has a rather threatening aura as Leontiou sings "Did you think that I don't know when your front door closes?" 

Tzuke reappears for "Pity The Lovers", another epically harmonious slow number with a heart-wrenching orchestral arrangement and a similarly low keyboard hum, but a more complex drum pattern.  Even surrounded by the utterly gorgeous, if minimalistic, music, Tzuke's lyrics stand out for their depth and intelligence. 

The album continues to alter vocalists for "We Will Be Dust", which is somewhat reminiscent of Faithless's "I Hope" from their last record To All New Arrivals (which Leontiou also appeared on to provide vocals for "Hope And Glory").  Largely made up of sequencer patterns of varying pitch, "We Will Be Dust" is spellbinding, proving that Rollo's less is more approach for Dusted/All Thieves packs just as much punch as his dance oriented productions.

"Marybelle's Poem" begins mostly as a spoken word piece before moving into another funky pattern of sequencers and drums.  The song fools you several times into thinking it's going to explode into a dance number, but it scales back the intensity just before the climax and keeps the funky groove locked down with loads of nuances such as guitar stabs and almost unrecognizable vocal samples.

"Stars" is a force to be reckoned with, with a fierce, driving keyboard hook, and an epic chorus loaded with swirling aural effects, giving it an appropriately spacey feel.  Strings gradually rise in the mix, and it once again forces me to echo my oft-repeated sentiment that electronic music will one day be looked upon in much the same way classical music (as we know it) is now - ahead of its time and foolishly overlooked. 

Though it is perhaps the album's weakest track, "Barney" is also possibly the most similar to Dusted's classic material.  Tzuke takes lead, singing uplifting verses about the celebration of all things in life as melodies build and cascade occasionally over the song's bubbly hook.  There's a vaguely gospel feel to the track, with a beat that's easily to follow and clap your hands to, and excellent piano work in the final third of the song.

Closing with "My Philosophy", the album's longest track at 8 minutes and 20 seconds, echoing drumbeats and loops will hypnotize you.  Sampled recorders and keyboards create a spiritual melody, almost akin to Indian flute music before the beat shifts around the halfway point to a more familiar pumping dance beat.  The slower tempo keeps the track grounded and scads of effects and production tricks elevate it into the realm of the surreal.  The best way to describe it would be like listening to someone's dream, and I can say without hyperbole that this is the single best production Armstrong has produced since Faithless's sophomore record, Sunday 8PM.

We Are All Thieves may lack some of the cohesion that When We Were Young had in spades, but what it lacks it more than makes up for with its incredible production.  This is Rollo and Bates in top form, creating ever-expanding sounds that engulf and envelope the listener.  There's no doubt that this is one of the best records of 2009, released or unreleased, but more than that - it's one of the best records Rollo has ever attached his name to.  The addition of Leontiou and Tzuke to the already dynamite team of Armstrong and Bates is the icing on the cake that makes We Are All Thieves one of those special records where words simply fail to describe the majesty of it all. 

Comments

[Karen]

thank you for the review
when is this album coming out ??

[Matt Antonich]

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, there is no release date set for the album at this time.

I would hope that with promos circulating, it will be sometime in 2010, but its always tough to tell with any project Rollo is involved in.