Shadows Collide with People

John Frusciante certainly has an impressive palette of life-altering experiences from which to draw musical inspiration – a crippling heroin addiction, whirlwind marriage to Milla Jovovich, membership of one of the world’s most commercially successful rock acts at an early age. Largely credited as the irreplaceable creative force behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers, expectations are somewhat raised for this offering.
Evoking the mournful mastery of Chris Cornell and Mark Lanegan, Frusciante’s once fraught voice has gained in power and confidence. The stripped-back vibe of Frusciante’s previous albums has given way to lush, fully-feathered sounds that haven’t lost any of their intimacy, making a dizzyingly beautiful patchwork quilt of tempos, emotions, stories and vibes.
More often than not, the ‘solo’ album is a chance for the artist to flex their creative muscle and experiment sonically on a ‘carte blanche’ project that is of little financial consequence to the label. In this case, Frusciante manages to push the envelope whilst retaining his rock origins. On board for the ride are bandmates Flea and Chad Smith, yet Shadows is anything but a RHCP exercise. The songs are uniformly rocktastic, but the experimental electronica intervals on ‘Ricky’, ‘In Relief’ and ‘Water’ are bound to ruffle the feathers of a few die-hard Chilis fans, and the songs are all the better for it.
Shame he has to go back to the day job, really…