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Midge Ure: Fragile

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Hypertension Records
Released: 2014.06.01
Time:
 53:26
Category: Synth-Pop
Producer(s): Midge Ure
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.midgeure.co.uk
Appears with: Ultravox, Visage
Purchase date: 2015
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] I Survived (M.Ure) - 4:59
[2] Are We Connected (M.Ure) - 4:56
[3] Let It Rise (Ch. von Deylen) - 4:22
[4] Become (M.Ure) - 4:00
[5] Star Crossed (M.Ure) - 5:26
[6] Wire And Wood [Instrumental] (M.Ure) - 7:07
[7] Dark, Dark Night (R.Hall) - 6:00
[8] For All You Know (M.Ure) - 5:39
[9] Bridges [Instrumental] (M.Ure) - 4:41
[10] Fragile (M.Ure) - 6:13

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Midge Ure - Vocals, Multi-Instruments, Mixing, Liner Notes, Producer

Russell Field - Drum Samples on [1]
Moby - Programming & Keyboards on[7]

Robbie Bronnimann - Mastering
Shutterstock - Cover Photo
Friedel Muders - Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2014 CD Hypertension - HYP 14302



As pop music’s history stretches into its seventh decade, so does its list of heroes. These heroes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: the all-powerful (Elvis, Madonna) to cult (Alex Chilton, Evan Dando). But pop’s tapestry stretches in other ways too so it can encompass another type of hero: the all-around good egg. And in this category I present you the Scot Midge Ure.

Ure is more than just a nice guy. His 1975 to 1985 career course does read like the composite “How to be a pop star” encyclopedia: from boy-band lead (Slik), to post-punk (Rich Kids, Glen Matclock’s new direction after the Sex Pistols), to major synth pop (Ultravox) and the new romantics (Visage), to co-writing the fot-the-ages charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. Ure co-organised Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He even played hard rock guitar with Thin Lizzy, for heaven’s sake.

All these accomplishments, while remaining a decent human being, have combined to make Ure the seriously good guy of repute. However, the fact remains that, since 1985, Midge hasn’t seriously troubled the charts with a group or as a solo artist. The odd album, the last one being the 2008 cover versions LP 10, has come and gone with negligible musical impact. Midge did come together with a reformed Ultravox in 2012 and released Brilliant, a respectable but hardly cutting-edge outing.

All this is a preamble to saying that the listener approaches Fragile with minimal expectation. And in that sense Ure exceeds. The first thing to say is that it is a beautifully produced album. Ure’s illustrious heritage means that he is a proper music pro, and it shows. The second is that the album is undoubtedly an ‘80s throwback. That doesn’t make it a bad thing. The ‘80s was responsible for a lot—both outstanding and mediocrity—but Ultravox was capable of very classy ‘80s. Fragile showcases a man who knows his electronica and synths, and above all, to reinforce this point, he really does know his way around the studio.

There is a third downside point, however. Midge’s voice is not what it was. It sometimes lacks strength and on several occasions he opts for the irritating electronic voice treatment, presumably to toughen it up. But this happens too may times, which is unfortunate because it rather overshadows the album as a whole.

The overall impression at the conclusion of a couple of listens to the LP is of a pleasant aural experience. There is blandness there (“Star Crossed”) , but tracks like “I Survived” and “Let It Rise” convey a certain grand stateliness, hallmarks of Ure’s halcyon Vienne days. “Bridges”, one of the two instrumentals, summons up a slightly spooky Twin Peaks ethereality. The crystalline acoustic guitar sound that introduces “Wire and Wood” provides a welcome respite from the electronica. The bouncy single “Become” could have easily graced the charts in 1983.

Midge Ure is evidently proud he has got to where he has, a survivor and much-respected elder statesman of British pop. The opening track “I Survived” is self-explanatory in that respect. The closer “Fragile” likewise sounds like a personal manifesto. Good luck to the man, and full credit that he is still making music, which if a bit dull is definitely not a dud.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Richard Folland - 5 November 2014
© 1999-2015 PopMatters.com



Midge Ure calls Fragile, the former Ultravox leader's first new release in more than a decade, "the type of album I needed a lifetime in music to create." And there was some bumpy terrain leading up to it. "It's a diary of thoughts and emotions and highs and deep lows I've experienced," Ure tells Billboard about Fragile, which officially comes out Aug. 19. "I went through huge swatches of doubting my continued involvement in this rapidly changing music industry, a lot of self-doubt as to whether I could write anymore after walking away from my all too constant writing partner Jack Daniels and the realization that, just maybe, nobody was waiting desperately for new Midge Ure material." But ultimately, he adds, "I realized that if you don't agree with where music is at the moment, where busloads of writers contribute to one song and talent shows are supposed to find us the next John Lennon or Led Zeppelin, then walking away from music isn't going to change anything. (Fragile) might not change anything, but it makes me feel better about trying to redress the balance."

The 10-track Fragile mines Ure's trademark blend of synthesizers, guitars, hooky melodies and rich ambience, with songs such as "Wire & Wood," "Dark Dark Night" and "Fragile" stretching past the six-minute mark. Ure did all the playing, producing, engineering and mixing himself, which he acknowledges took "time, time and more time" to get to the point where he was satisfied.

"You need plenty of time and space to be able to discern between right and wrong, necessity and excess," he explains. "I thought of each instrument and what they were doing in relation to the other instruments and melodies as building blocks towards the final production. They all had to contribute something to the overall picture but be melodic at the same time. I hope it sounds like a band rather than one person."

"Dark Dark Night," meanwhile, is a collaboration with Moby that Ure says started via an Internet contact from Moby to work together on something for his latest album, 2013's Innocents. "I was very flattered and intrigued," Ure recalls, "so he sent me a couple of tracks he was working on, one of which is the core of 'Dark, Dark Night.' Although I was in the middle of working on Fragile I eventually did my thing to it, adding lyrics and keys and guitar -- by which time he had finished and released his album. I asked much later if he minded if I include it on my album, as it then felt a part of what I was doing. It works seamlessly with the feel of Fragile."

Ure adds that he and Moby "have never met nor spoken, but I'm hoping to change that in the not too distant future." Their paths may cross during the next few weeks, in fact: Ure will join Howard Jones, Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins and others on the Retro Futura Tour 2014, which begins Aug. 19 at the Iridium in New York, and he'll follow with solo acoustic dates that start Sept. 7 in Vancouver.

Gary Graff - August 14, 2014
© 2015 Billboard



Midge Ure, mastermind of Ultravox, founder of Band Aid & Live 8, Grammy Award Winner & Brit Award Winner presents his new studio album 'Fragile'. 'Fragile' is the first collection of new, original music from Grammy and Brit award winning musician Midge Ure in over a decade. "I have recorded various things over that period" Ure states "a covers album of favourite songs, a few live CD's and of course the latest Ultravox album Brilliant, so I haven't been slacking. I just never felt the need to write and release an album just for the sake of it". 'Fragile' is a culmination of influences garnered from a lifetime in the music business and shows elements of Ure's musical journey displaying his accomplished guitar work (Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy) and the electronics and technology he has utilised since the late 1970's (Visage, Ultravox). These elements combine and blend with ease thanks to his production and engineering skills. This really can be termed a 'solo album' as Midge has written, arranged, engineered, produced and played almost everything in his studio in Bath, England. An album of beautifully crafted, atmospheric music from a skilled songwriter which swings from 'Become' and 'Dark, dark night' where he collaborated with fellow musician Moby and shows more than a passing a nod to his electronic roots, all the way to the heady, cinematic soundscape of 'Fragile' or 'Star crossed' which could almost be termed 'contemporary prog rock' all sitting comfortably side by side on this latest offering. "It's all about songs with melody and atmosphere" Ure claims "musical influences hopefully don't ever stop and I think on this album you can hear elements of the music which has shaped me over the years. Kind of wearing my musical heart on my sleeve" "'Fragile' Modern music which deserves 'old school back to back' listening" - Midge Ure.

Amazon.com



TEARS FOR FEARS’ Roland Orzabal once said that artists should make fewer albums when explaining the 4 year gestation time for ‘The Seeds Of Love’ album. While that album was perhaps less than satisfactory, he had a point. Within that same period between 1985 to 1989, OMD issued two albums plus a greatest hits and then split up as a result of the burn out. If the best ten songs had been siphoned off ‘Crush’, ‘The Pacific Age’ and their corresponding non-album appendices, there probably would be a smaller but stronger body of work to represent OMD’s Hollywood phase…

Long periods between albums of original material are now common occurrences among veterans of the Synth Britannia era. HEAVEN 17 are currently recording their first album since 2005’s ‘Before After’ while ALISON MOYET had a 10+ year gap before her triumphant artistic rebirth with ‘the minutes’ last year. And now MIDGE URE returns with ‘Fragile’, a solo album of new songs and his first since 2001’s ‘Move Me’. Of course, the diminutive Glaswegian has not been idle having released a collection of covers entitled ’10’ in 2009 and returned to ULTRAVOX with the ‘Brilliant’ album in 2012 being the end result. And all this without even mentioning his endless touring and collaborations with European artists such as STEPHEN EMMER, SCHILLER, JAM & SPOON and X-PERIENCE.

Midge-ure-ultravoxIndeed, the success of the ULTRAVOX comeback appears to have been a big motivator in Ure getting his creative focus back. It can’t be easy as he has nothing to prove as one of British music’s esteemed elder statesmen. But despite being still highly regarded in Europe, the general public in the UK appear to be apathetic as to what he can still offer. Now, while Ure is highly unlikely to reach the heights of No1 singles like he achieved with ‘If I Was’, or headline Wembley Arena as he did in support of his 1985 debut long player ‘The Gift’, his new meisterwerk is an impressive musical diary of a man pondering and confronting his post-midlife.

Although not featuring on ‘Fragile’, his recent orchestral laden collaboration ‘Taking Back My Time’ with STEPHEN EMMER probably sums up the album’s manifesto. But the collection begins with another poignant title ‘I Survived’ which sensitively soars and sees Ure comfortable in his own skin, unafraid to question how his life has turned out. “Keep it and hold it while you can” he sings. The eight songs and two instrumentals that comprise ‘Fragile’ sentimentally recall his work with VISAGE, ULTRAVOX and MICK KARN as well as his earlier solo work. But then, this is a MIDGE URE album, and apart from a contribution by MOBY and a sampled drum loop, ‘Fragile’ is all his own work. “In a way, it’s a much more grown up record than anything I’ve done before” he told The Electricity Club.

‘Are We Connected?’ could well be a thematic follow-up to ‘Contact’ from ‘Brilliant’, but is much harder rhythmically like DEPECHE MODE’s ‘In Your Room’ from ‘Songs Of Faith & Devotion’. Appropriately enough, there is much intense questioning before Ure then cries “All hail to this new religion, crossed wires in conversation”!

The album eases into a more sedate pace on ‘Let It Rise’, a track recorded for SCHILLER’s ‘Atemlos’ album back in 2010. A much more epic proposition in its original form, Ure goes back to basics for his version 2.0 but retains the track’s electronic eloquence with some shrilling synths and pretty melodic motifs. Now whereas ‘Brilliant’and ‘Move Me’ both had Ure rocking out on his guitar, other than on ‘Star Crossed’, ‘Fragile’ is much more gentle and textural.

The beautiful progressive ambience of ‘Wire & Wood’ that starts Side 2 is a fine example of Ure’s sound painting. Free from the pressure of writing lyrics, he utilises various spiritual atmospheres including Spanish guitar, oboe samples and washes of synth before a Morricone styled pan pipe and vocal ad-lib combination in the final of the piece’s four movements. With a monochromatic Film Noir instrumental ‘Bridges’ also featuring in the second half, these two selections are a reminder of the wordless wonders that made up a fair chunk of ‘The Gift’.

But it is the songs that most listeners will be interested in and Ure certainly doesn’t disappoint in that department. ‘Become’ is unsurprisingly the album’s lead single and a romantic, less abrasive take on ‘After A Fashion’. With a danceable metronomic beat and all the hallmarks of classic VISAGE, as the album’s most uptempo number, it is inevitably the focal point of ‘Fragile’. But there are other songs that are easily its equal.

midgeure-becomeThe most notable of these is ‘Dark, Dark Night’, a co-write with a certain Richard Melville Hall, otherwise better known as MOBY. The song is quite obviously a descendant of ‘Rockets’ from MOBY’s ‘Destroyed’ opus. Optimising the latter’s rich symphonic string sounds and chilled vibes, ‘Dark, Dark Night’ builds to an amazing climax with melodic screeches and a tremendous guitar solo from Ure. Together, the follically challenged pairing are a partnership made in heaven and it has obviously had a prolonged effect as ‘For All You Know’ is another wonderful example that mirrors that template. Adding simulated fretless bass and symphonic choirs into the equation, although Mr Hall is not involved in this one, ‘For All You Know’ does rather sound like ULTRAVOX’s ‘Change’ slowed down and reimagined by MOBY!

In fact, the sad modulated string synth pads reminiscent of OMD are all over ‘Fragile’ but they are certainly a more interesting proposition than the thinner Virtual String Machine generated tones that characterised the ‘Brilliant’ album. These sounds give the album a comparatively primitive but emotive feel, familiar in shape but fresh in feel. To close the album, there is the Floydian tones of the ‘Fragile’ title track. This solemn epic is such that it could be considered Ure’s own ‘Comfortably Numb’.

Overall, ‘Fragile’ sees MIDGE URE reinvigorated by his musical past and enjoying using electronic sounds again on top of a much more mature outlook while evoking a true honesty in his voice. Clearly, the ULTRAVOX experience has been an important factor in Ure rekindling his muse… quite ironic as Matt Bellamy and Co have turned ULTRAVOX’s sound up to 11 and taken it round the world’s stadiums!

Chi Ming Lai - 11th July 2014
© 2015 The Electricity Club



„Die zehn Stücke, bis auf dezente Hilfe von Freunden wie Moby vollständig selbst komponiert, aufgenommen und produziert, sind in sich rund, elegisch schwebend und voluminös gemixt, aber mit jenem traurigsüßen Flair versetzt, das den Pop der Achtziger so sentimental machte.“

stereoplay, August 2014



"...insgesamt ein grundsolider Soundtrack zu einem nicht existierenden Film mit nachdenklichen Texten zum menschlichen Dasein und Zusammenleben heutzutage in allerlei Facetten."

Good Times, August/September 2014
 

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