Barking

No secrets in electronic music for Underworld

In the twenty five years that Underworld have existed, the duet’s members Carl Hyde and Rick Smith developed a perfect pattern for making one album after another. The two masters of electronic music learned how to set goals and achieve them, which is witnessed by their consistent discography. Of course, the best works offered by this band are those that came out in the nineties, golden age for electronic. However, it is not wise to say that now this music is no more valuable, interesting or obstinate. The example set by Underworld shows that it is not the genre or the year of release, but purely the quality of content that determine the successfulness of a music product. It is difficult to disagree that there is no unanimous universal fashion for house or techno; but there are many of those to whom these trends remain the music of their life. They form the primary audience at whom Underworld aimed their ninth studio album, Barking.

A quality work from a team of professionals

You can stare at the cover of the new Underworld album just as long as the album itself lasts – for an hour – or even longer. It is a discussible question whether this painting, looking like an effort by an impressionist, really had a deep meaning behind, or just serves to draw a listener’s attention. Those who will pass from studying the cover of Barking to its content will not regret spending time on it. Hyde and Smith did a great job here and involved a number of established producers, including Paul Van Dyke. The whole team made sure that each track could bear a dance-party mood to infect you with. The all-purpose character of Barking is a great thing as you will see that this CD is welcome at small clubs just as well as at huge venues. The Underworld music has gone through slight transformations and grew somewhat ‘warmer’ since the musicians moved from cold and psychedelic techno to hot and fun material offering the most life-assuring album they have ever made. Nevertheless, apart from such flaming tracks like Always Loved Film, or Between Stars, the CD, at some moments, reminds us of the classic Underworld. Grace, and Moon In Water, are like rivers of the subconscious, slow and deep. They bring us back to the seventies and eighties when suchlike music was not given a definite name yet, but was automatically referred to the field of experiments.

All of those who like Underworld will like Barking

Barking is a fancy piece of art that lives its own life like any other organism. It constantly changes the mood and tempo. The record seems to fall asleep when you enjoy the ballad Louisiana, and then wakes up and feeds you on its dance drive as you feel it in the Scribble. Barking will be demanded because it’s a good record and because it’s an Underworld record. In the meantime, there is no sense in hoping that this album will make an absolute hit and mesmerize those who have always been indifferent to this type of music. Barking is a skillfully crafted combination of the Underworld classic music and contemporary ideas offered by the producers, but it is far from a revolutionary work that will grant the makers all possible rewards and benefits. However, these musicians did not look set to start any revolution. They simply did their job as well as only experts can do. Missing this record will not do you any hard if you are not following the Underworld career; but to those who love and respect them, Barking is a whole lot of good news.