John Frusciante – The Empyrean

John Frusciante’s solo work has always been far more interesting than that of his day job with the Red Hot Chili Peppers: ranging from scratchy home recordings to ambient electronica via DIY punk, sixties pop and Can-inspired jams.

His latest, The Empyrean is a grandiose affair with strings and keys complementing his always superb guitar playing, everything treated with Eno-esque electronics. Washes of analogue synths flood the quiet passages; strange echo, overdubbed guitars, vocals and strings fight for space over the enormous drums.

Frusciante's singing, though having developed enormously from the unhinged screeching of his first two records, is fine, but the low points of this record are those when those vocals are the focus; the elsewhere-eccentric instrumentation takes a back seat, becoming normal. But these moments are brief, with the music building gradually, sounds interweaving, occasionally leaving loose ends, other times erupting into a beautiful mess held together by Josh Klinghoffer's solid drumming.

Rarely does a nine minute guitar solo captivate in the way that first track Before the Beginning does: like the Dirty Three playing Maggot Brain, the tear-inducing guitar replacing the violin. Far from stadium arcadium, this is music for headphones, late at night. [Stephen Toman]