John Cale S/D

Today, the legendary John Cale releases a new single/video, “Shark-Shark,” from his new album, POPtical Illusion, out June 14th via Domino. Following lead single “How We See The Light,” “Shark-Shark” is a slightly menacing, yet wholly delightful, heavy dance jam. Various versions of Cale’s voice cut under and across a throbbing industrial beat made rich with punchy drum machines, before ending with a scabrous guitar solo as mean as something Cale might have made in the inchoate days of punk. The video sees Cale collaborating once again with director Abigail Portner.

“Sometimes you write a song purely for a mood,” Cale explains. “‘Shark-Shark’ has two versions - both a nod to finding humor in music. When you’re feeling too much of the real world, the best diversion is something that puts a grin on your face. I don’t know how Abby & team kept this shoot together - being ‘unserious’ was a lot of fun!”

Of the video, Portner states “When I first heard this song the first thing that struck me was this vibe of gentle chaos, a chaos that's not dangerous but a playfulness that happens at a sleepover party or in an '80s comedy. I was in Oslo last summer with John and I had taken a bunch of pictures of the band in the National Museum standing in the hall of busts, looking very stark and cold. This idea popped into my head of what if the chaos in this song was sculptures coming to life and breaking all the rules! The concept of taking something like the National Museum or Swan Lake and having the art itself turn it upside down seemed fitting for this song.”

thanks, this sounds great, my fave thing I've heard from him in years

what do people think about the new one? i was overcome with the desire to every song-oriented cale album from vintage violence to now, so i'm just getting around to it

caribbean sunset is a vastly underrated record btw. people really judged that one by its cover

glad there have been a lot of posts on ilm over time saying caribbean sunset is good because it is

i feel like i should like artificial intelligence more than i do. i mean i am kind of obsessed with it. like a creepy minimal '80s-synth album by john cale??? sounds made up just so that i would later write an ilm post about how good it is. and the first four tracks are incredible. as is "black rose." honestly it's all good, i just think "chinese takeaway" kinda derails it by being a joke that's only sort-of funny the first time

I like the new one a lot. Possibly a bit of an easier listen than the previous album but I think they complement each other.

Caribbean Sunset isn't bad, and I'm not one of those listeners who normally dismisses or praises album on production, but...the crappy self-production lets down the songs.

idk what i think about POPtical Illusion -- i made it about 4 songs in before i bailed. i def would not introduce someone to his work with this album but there are things about it that I found enjoyable in an oddball way, like the song about all the things he and his friend from out of town are going to do on the friend's visit. but mostly i feel like i appreciate the effort more than i like the songs on the album.

and the canned beats did not appeal to me -- why rely on canned beats when you are JOHN CALE?!?!

The combo of very lazy sound design in the drum programming dept and his insistence on autotuned vocals really makes the two recent albums a challenge for me.

looking forward to the new one as I think Mercy is joining stuff like B12's Electro-Soma in my cocoon-of-lostness canon

i only discovered Artificial Intelligence recently. Always followed some conventional wisdom against some of those 80s albums. Finally listened to it and fell in love a few months ago. Wrote something about how it's such a beautiful 80s sound and how amazing Cale is at expressing anxiety.

The new album sounds great and I reckon will sound even more amazing played loud in my kitchen while I am drunk

he played "Satellite Walk" when I saw him, remember finding it hilarious at the time

I'll just note here that the two uncredited drummers on "Church of Anthrax" are Bobby Colomby (from Blood Sweat & Tears), and Bobby Gregg (of "Like a Rolling Stone" fame)