Bryan Ferry – Avonmore (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Bryan Ferry – Avonmore (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 43:17 minutes | 490 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd

Avonmore is the fourteenth studio album by the British singer Bryan Ferry, released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2014.

The title of the album was named after the location of Ferry’s studio in London where it was recorded. The album was announced on 23 September 2014 with a preview of the song “Loop De Li”. The album was produced by Ferry with longterm collaborator Rhett Davies, who has produced several albums for Ferry and Roxy Music. The album also features Ferry regulars such as Fonzi Thornton, Nile Rodgers, Marcus Miller, and Johnny Marr (who co-wrote the track “Soldier of Fortune”). The album includes two cover versions, a rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns” and a version of “Johnny and Mary”, originally by Robert Palmer. The latter track was a collaboration with the Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje and first appeared on Terje’s album It’s Album Time which was released earlier in 2014.

Avonmore peaked at number 19 on the UK Album Chart, and number 72 on the US Billboard 200.

On the album art of Avonmore, the record he released when he was a year shy of 70, Bryan Ferry showcases himself as a dashing young man — a portrait of an artist not as a glam trailblazer or distinguished elder statesman, but rather caught in an indeterminate time between the gorgeous heartbreak of Roxy Music’s Avalon and the meticulous solo work that came immediately in its wake. This is Ferry’s prime, a moment when his legacy was intact but yet to be preserved in amber. Avonmore consciously evokes this distinct period, sometimes sighing into the exquisite ennui of Avalon but usually favoring the fine tailoring of Boys & Girls, a record where every sequenced rhythm, keyboard, and guitar line blended into an alluring urbane pulse. Ferry isn’t so much racing to revive a younger edition of himself as much as laying claim to this particular strand of sophisticated pop, one that happens to feel a shade richer now when it’s delivered by an artist whose world-weariness has settled into his marrow but is yet to sadden him. This much is apparent on Avonmore’s closing covers, an oddly appropriate pairing of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and Robert Palmer’s “Johnny & Mary” that are both given gently meditative electronic makeovers, but much of the record explores the other end of the Ferry spectrum, where he’s making music to dance away the heartache. He’s no longer on the floor himself, preferring to watch with a bit of a bemusement, but this reserved romanticism suits him perfectly, particularly because Ferry and his co-producer Rhett Davies — a steady collaborator since 1999’s standards record As Time Goes By — place an emphasis on mood but not at the expense of the songs. Naturally, what is first alluring about Avonmore is its feel — it’s meant to be seductive — but the songs are what makes this record something more than a fling. –Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

01. Bryan Ferry – Loop De Li (04:16)
02. Bryan Ferry – Midnight Train (03:49)
03. Bryan Ferry – Soldier Of Fortune (04:25)
04. Bryan Ferry – Driving Me Wild (03:37)
05. Bryan Ferry – A Special Kind Of Guy (03:13)
06. Bryan Ferry – Avonmore (05:13)
07. Bryan Ferry – Lost (02:47)
08. Bryan Ferry – One Night Stand (05:05)
09. Bryan Ferry – Send In The Clowns (04:02)
10. Bryan Ferry – Johnny & Mary (with Todd Terje) (06:47)

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