Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in Robert Wyatt. It's a tribute to the 62-year-old cult legend's boundless imagination that a concept album in three acts and replete with obscure covers, international flavors, a snaking narrative and diverse guest stars yields enough lovely moments to be surprisingly accessible.
Act One begins with a cover of Norwegian songstress Anja Garbarek's “Stay Tuned,” on which Chinese opera singer Seaming To anchors Wyatt's ephemeral voice with her own haunting textures to jazz-influenced backing. “Just As You Are,” a heart-wrenching duet with Brazilian jazz singer Monica Vasconcelos, was co-written by Wyatt's wife, Alfreda Benge (as were four other songs here), and features the Jam's Paul Weller on guitar. (Other guests include Brian Eno and his old Roxy Music cohort/guitarist Phil Manzanera.)
Five songs later comes Act Two's jarring “Be Serious,” a half-silly skewering of religious conviction: “I really envy Christians/I envy Muslims, too/It must be great to be so sure as a top Hindu or Jew.” It's more playful than it reads on paper. Ditto Wyatt's depiction of an attack from the perspective of the bomber (“A Beautiful War”) and the bombed (“Out of the Blue”).
After ominously looping Eno's voice on the latter, Wyatt eschews the English language in what he has said is a protest of the Iraq War. Thus, Act Three finds him covering an Italian rock song (“Del Mondo”) and employing Spanish to adapt poet Federico García Lorca's “Canción de Julieta” and Cuban composer Carlos Puebla's “Hasta Siempre Comandante.”
Sounds insane, huh? Fear not: Wyatt's dreamy warble and lyrical cunning help smooth Comicopera's artier edges. Likewise, his sonic whimsy and personal politics are deep resources, not distractions. All of which makes for a bona-fide masterpiece that should win over curious listeners who know Wyatt only by reputation.
