Ian McCulloch: Slideling : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

More than twenty years after he made the definitive British indie-rock fashion statement by pairing dark sunglasses with a gray trench coat, former Echo and the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch still sounds like he's been holed up in his bedroom for too many nights, listening to old Leonard Cohen records and contemplating love and life over a glass of red wine. Fans of his early work will no doubt be encouraged by Slideling's dreamy and downcast tone -- and McCulloch's voice remains distinctly marvelous -- but the material here generally lacks the spark that ignited Bunnymen classics like "Seven Seas" and "The Killing Moon." The choppy "Love in Veins" comes close, while "Sliding," which features Coldplay's Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, is plainly gorgeous. Otherwise, nothing here quite warrants putting away that battered copy of Songs to Learn & Sing.

AIDIN VAZIRI
(May 12, 2003)