Delving deeper into his interest in electronic music and adding yet another album to his seemingly endless discography, John Frusciante is set to release his fourteenth solo effort, entitled Outsides on August 14th in Japan and August 27th everywhere else through Record Collection. Topping off at 19 minutes with three songs, this is one of the shorter releases Frusciante has put out.
In the years following his departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the release of The Empyrean, Frusciante dropped under the radar, minus a few guest appearances and collaborations with guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At the Drive-In/The Mars Volta/Bosnian Rainbows fame. So when he released Letur Lefr under such short notice three years later, many were excited to hear what was coming next. Letur Lefr marked Frusciante’s departure of the traditional guitar driven, soulful sound that his solo work was known for and marked the beginning of his experimentation with electronica, hip-hop, and music he described as “progressive synth-pop”, shown on the following LP PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone. Obviously this was received in various ways, most (including myself) not making sense of what was going on on these records. He had dabbed into the electronic genre in the past as seen in A Sphere in the Heart of Silence and To Record Only Water for Ten Days, but never to this extent.
Outsides sees Frusciante doing basically everything, from the instrumentation to the production to the cover artwork. While some of the guitar work that many have come to love from him is a little more prevalent, this new direction he’s taken is an unusual one to say the least.
Opening track and center piece “Same” opens with a funky, synth driven drum beat, a drum beat Frusciante states would be made by his dream drummer. This goes for a bit before he begins a lengthy, improvisational guitar solo.
The shortest, most interesting and thought provoking track on Outsides follows. “Breathiac” is a free-jazz, mostly drum track; it’s the hardest to take in out of the three pieces simply because of everything it throws at you in two minutes. Fans of PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone will be right at home here.
“Shelf” is the final song on the EP, a more laid back, but still drum driven track. Featured here are effects-laden drum machines, keys, a faint guitar track, and a short moment of vocals, the only vocals that appear on Outsides. That moment is my favorite on the album. About halfway into the song, the guitars cut out, and the song shifts into a distinct, atmospheric, melodic rhythm, and then Frusciante’s vocals come in. After the madness that made up the songs preceding this one, it was like seeing a long lost loved one after years apart.
After Outsides, you can only wonder what John Frusciante is going to throw at you next with this new direction he has taken with his solo career. If his goal was to not stick to but work outside of the traditional realms of rock and pop, he’s done that and then some.
Rating: 3.5/5
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