Open Mind: The Best Of Blackfield (Uk) [CD]

Blackfield is the collaboration between Israeli songwriter & musician Aviv Geffen & British musician & producer Steven Wilson. The collaboration, extending from their self-titled debut in 2004 to their superb return with album 'V' produced with Alan Parsons in 2017, has proven to be a prolific partnership for creating striking & affecting music. The pair makes for a formidable musical force; Geffen has worked with legendary producers Tony Visconti & Trevor Horn, has also recently performed with & hosted Jake Bugg, played as support for Biffy Clyro & was a judge on the Israeli TV show 'The Voice'. Wilson, after a long tenure as the leader of the hugely influential band Porcupine Tree, has since embarked on a highly successful solo career, most recently earning a #3 album in the UK Charts & #2 in the DE Charts, as well 4 Grammy nominations. This collection, curated by Wilson & Geffen, selects the best works from an impressively rich Blackfield catalogue with each of the five records combining both sweet & tart elements. It's an uncommonly potent mixture. Perhaps the debut album's Lasse Hoile cover art-a bottled elixir lurking in the gloomy shadows of an apothecary-signifies that Blackfield is a dark medicine to be administered through the listener's ear. There's no recipe on the aged & frayed label of the bottle. Yet some lyrical ingredients can be discerned within the mix: Take a dash of childhood memory, sprinkle in some heartbreak, pour in a drop of blood from an open vein, add a pinch of angry conscience (carefully weighed), puree the dew of a kiss & then garnish with the bitter tears of adult disillusionment. Stir carefully & name it after the very first Blackfield collaboration: "Open Mind". Steven Wilson - "Blackfield appealed to me because it was a chance to focus firmly on the art of the classic pop song with concise songs & strong melodies, harmonies, orchestration & a very lush 'golden' production."