Since their eponymous debut album in 1995, Garbage composed of Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Market & Butch Vig has had a great influence on global pop music.
Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, Garbage’s expansive, explosive, all-too-human album is their eighth. It’s the first one that arrived unexpectedly, due to unforeseen circumstance. Conjured into existence when the band was all at sea.
The songs on Let All That We Imagine Be The Light tell stories, both musically and lyrically. Some are direct tales from Shirley’s life. Have We Met (The Void) recalls a specific moment in Barcelona where a love affair crumbled in the face of a furious woman. Chinese Fire Horse is a riposte to a ridiculous, ageist retirement inquiry from journalists. Other songs emerged less directly. A half-remembered memory; a ‘we must flee’ emotion. Sisyphus and Radical combine Shirley’s desperation about recovery with mantras (prayers) for those that are repressed.
The music is generous, full of atmosphere and drama. Filmic. You might hear a Joy Division-style bass, some no-messing riffs. There is dignity and splendour, dynamics and beauty. A sense of a full world, of story-crafting through soundscaping.
