With the aid of co-producer Mercan Dede and a small cadre of Easternand Western musicians, Peter Murphy has immersed himself within a newsound. 'Dust' picks up where 2000's stripped down "Just For Love" tourleft off by retaining classically trained violinist Hugh Marsh. Thenthe sound is fleshed out with the ancient ones of and near Murphy'sadopted homeland of Turkey - percussion, kanun, ud, cumbus, etc. - plusadditional programming and keyboard and guitar atmospheres. Themajority of the nine songs are sprawled out between seven and nineminutes, thus flowing like molasses and/or indulging in instrumentalpassages. To these Western ears there is a perfectly tasteful balancebetween East and West, old and new, electronic and acoustic, in agenuinely spiritual way. The environment lends itself to the voice andvice versa (certainly far better than the KMFDM backed 'Recall' EP) andthe voice and lyrics are as strong as ever. This is the album thatshould have been entitled 'Deep'. If you're looking for upbeat pop likepast gems "Cuts You Up" and "The Scarlet Thing In You" you won't findanything remotely like that here. You also won't find any obvioussingles as the album is undoubtedly meant for listening to in itsentirety. Murphy's message is poetic but clear, reminding us to "loveanything", that "there is no place like just for love" and "let lovebegin". The midsection of "Just For Love" and "Girlchild Aglow" is theapex. The next couple songs slightly dip in quality but are rescued bythe striking vocal of "My Last Two Weeks" and then 1995's "Subway" isrevisited, extended and successfully 'Dust'-ed off. This is a reallylovely album. By my third listen it all made perfect sense. Murphy iscurrently on tour in North America through June.
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