Israeli superstar Aviv Geffen and Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson couldn’t come from more different backgrounds. While Wilson is a homebody happy to keep the prog fires burning in Hemel Hempstead, Geffen is a politically active peace campaigner bloodying the noses of Tel Aviv’s powers that be. But when they come together they create something quite magical.
Welcome To My DNA, Blackfield’s third album, is a thing of melancholy beauty; the deep, lush opener Glass House sharing an ingrained sadness with The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby.
Geffen’s Middle Eastern influence peppers the record, especially in the exotic strings of the Radiohead-dark Blood – its stark, staccato repetition of the phrase “here comes the blood” suggesting it was written in the throes of night terrors.
The album manages the rare trick of being both doomily heavy, inventive and packed with tunes that bed into your brain for the day. Perfect for shutting the world out and having a good old wallow.