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The Silver Globe

My introduction to Jane Weaver came in 2014 on hearing the tracks 'Don't Take My Soul' and 'Mission Desire' on the radio, both from this album, The Silver Globe. It was only after I'd acquired her follow-up album Modern Kosmology in late 2017, however, that I came back to buy this one too. It's a record that was inspired in part by the movie On The Silver Globe, the work of Polish director Andrzej Żuławski - a controversial and troubled project begun in the mid-'70s but only released in 1988.

I'd been oblivious to Weaver's prior career (The Silver Globe is her sixth solo album), but it comes across as the work of a confident artist having already hit her stride. Style-wise, one reviewer described it as "krautrock-tinged, synth rock, space-disco pop opera". It is certainly psychedelic, while not too 'far out', being well-grounded with propulsive grooves and catchy melodies. It has more pronounced Anglo-European influences than American ones. One track samples Hawkwind, and there are hints of both Stereolab and St. Etienne, and of those artists' influences in turn, but Weaver's style is all her own.

My favourite tracks include 'Argent', 'Arrows' and 'Mission Desire'. As with Modern Kosmology, and her latest album Flock, it provides a varied but coherent listening experience, and one whose appeal has yet to fade with the passing of time.

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