I was hugely disappointed with Frusciante’s last album (SHADOWS COLLIDE WITH PEOPLE) which seemed to show an artist recording for radio rather than for himself. This record puts things back into a more interesting perspective, and is the first of a series of no less than six new recordings, all of which will be released in 2004.

THE WILL TO DEATH is an intense, personal album. It is also an album typified by stripped down production where Frusciante is accompanied by only one other musician, his friend Josh Klinghoffer.

Opening with No Doubt, Fruscianti injects a strong melody along with raw drum and guitar accompaniment. In a song about the uncertainties of life, I found the lyrics tortuous and unclear. An echoed vocal heavily populates the next song, An Exercise, along with a stuttering guitar and wandering drum rhythm. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this and other tracks here are demos designed to expose inner thoughts, and not necessarily for release to the world at large. And perhaps because of this the record has a certain fascination. Loss almost explains the record in a couple of lines: “We make the music that divides you, It’s handed down as a thing to cry to, And all my wars they treat you kindly, There’s nothing more important that I see…”

Fruscianti has created a musical document which, while not lyrically watertight, reveals something deeper about an artist with a musical history that has not been entirely fulfilling. The record is made listener-accessible through strong melodies, a distinctive vocal quality and stripped-down sound. There are also moments of fragility and tenderness, as in the enchanting The Mirror with its beautiful piano backdrop and pleading vocal, and A Loop with its delicate guitar refrain. The soft folk vibe of album highlight The Days Have Turned includes another set of revealing (and better) lyrics: “The days have turned away from me, The lights no longer shine in my head, And people turn away from me, No more do they look at me with respect…”

THE WILL TO DEATH is the first of a series of six albums to be released on the Record Collection label in the coming months. For Fruscianti fans and lovers of musical introspection, this album has much to offer while wetting the appetite for what’s in prospect.

4/5