IAMX – The Unified Field
The Unified Field marks Chris Corner’s solo project’s fifth independent release. It exudes the radiance of a man entirely confident in his own musical skin, concise and powerful with experimental intricacy, an album as enigmatic as its creator.
I Come with Knives opens with a hypnotic stanza (auf Deutsch courtesy of IAMX’s touring “multi-talent” Janine Gezang and the synthesized fury long-time fans have come to expect, reasserting that Corner has maintained the artistic clout of his first producer-assisted output.
The song is the album’s most musically and vocally raw offering, insisting, “I never wanted to abuse your imagination”. But he does, and that’s largely IAMX’s appeal – pure magnetic intelligence, dripping with electronic grandeur and intrigue.
Second track Sorrow showcases Corner’s impressive vocal athleticism and IAMX’s ability to blend theatricality with heart-wrenching honesty.
In comparison The Adrenalin Room shows restraint, avoiding easy overproduction, with silky vocals providing a catchy and sexy shot of blacked-out desire – a definite album highlight.
“Hold back the melancholy,” implores single Quiet the Mind, only to find a new wave-drenched Corner tasting his death like a candy bar, in a beautifully satirical plea to society and all of its banes. This theme is revisited in Screams, an engaging song that uses Hollywood metaphors to achieve deeper meaning. The track’s falsetto-filled chorus carries the track through compartmentalised narration – a tactic found throughout the album, which demonstrates a more methodical side to the IAMX plethora of constructive inspiration.
Walk with the Noise is an up-tempo firecracker, laced with sprightly keyboards and a forthright evocation of internal demons, clamping down on a universal message IAMX communicates so expertly.
Penultimate track Land of Broken Promises is a Spaghetti Western amalgam of harmonies and storytelling, leaving eyes blinking from its brassy impact. The track shows Corner at his most adventurous, accenting the creative freedom he felt during the album’s production.
Closing song Trials is stunning in its candid self-analysis. Largely instrumental, this song is given room to breathe, or more aptly gasp, as it floats over a haunting wash of wincing keyboards: a defiantly heart-breaking paean that only IAMX could produce.
This album truly lives up to its title. A collective piece of art meshed together with a cohesive message and sound, exempt from the repetition or blandness this genre so often tends to tumble into and proving that IAMX is, indeed, one in The Unified Field.
Victoria Sanz-Henry
The Unified Field was released on 19th October 2012. For further information or to order the album visit IAMX’s website here.
Watch the video for I Come with Knives here:
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