Tenement Symphony

by Marc Almond

Overview

Marc Almond's newest label jump resulted in what looked like an ideal creation on paper -- two songs produced and co-written by the Grid, the techno duo featuring Almond's Soft Cell collaborator Dave Ball, three more songs worked on with sole surviving Willing Sinner/La Magia member, keyboardist/orchestrator Billy McGee, and a mini-song cycle, "The Tenement Symphony" itself, produced by uber-studio wizard Trevor Horn. But did it work? Much like Enchanted, there's a little too much of Almond getting lost in rote synth-disco for comfort at points. But there are enough pluses to outweigh the minuses -- the opening "Meet Me in My Dream," one of the Grid collaborations, is a beautiful start, equal to "The Stars We Are," while the Symphony itself, though perhaps taking itself a bit too seriously as a conceit, has three solid singles to its credit -- a completely over the top (but what else to expect from Trevor Horn?) version of Jacques Brel's "Jacky," the concluding "My Hand Over My Heart," another sweep of the heartstrings dance ballad, and the surprise U.K. hit single of the bunch, the gentle and (for Horn) understated "The Days of Pearly Spencer," another '60s cover given the Almond treatment to good effect. ~ Ned Raggett

Product Details

Release Date:	10/13/2023
Label:	Sfe
UPC:	5013929851849
Rank:	26651

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Marc Almond   Primary Artist,Vocals
Anne Dudley   Guest Artist,Keyboards
Trevor Horn   Guest Artist,Organ,Vocals,Guitar (Bass)
Mitch Dalton   Guitar
J.J. Belle   Guitar
Eric Caudieux   Guitar,Keyboards
Richard Norris   Drums
Philip Todd   Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
Nick Plytas   Piano
Gavyn Wright   String Conductor
Andy Duncan   Drums,Percussion
Tim Weidner   Guitar (Bass)
Bruce Woolley   Vocals,Keyboards
Julian Stringle   Clarinet
Richard Riley   Guitar
Sally Bradshaw   Vocals
Billy McGee   Keyboards
Inga Humpe   Vocals
Betsy Cook   Vocals

Technical Credits

The Grid   Vocal Producer,Arranger,Producer
Jacques Brel   Composer
David McWilliams   Composer,Lyricist
Eric Caudieux   Programming
Julian Mendelsohn   Mixing
Richard Norris   Composer,Percussion Programming
Ren Swan   Engineer
Brian Malouf   Mixing
Marc Almond   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Anne Dudley   Arranger,Orchestration
Mort Shuman   Composer
Gerard Jouannest   Composer
Max Loderbauer   Programming
Andy Duncan   Percussion Programming
Steve Fitzmaurice   Engineer
Claude Debussy   Composer
Tim Weidner   Engineer
Bruce Woolley   Composer
Dave Ball   Composer
Richard Lowe   Assistant Engineer
Steve Rappaport   Artwork
Nigel Hine   Producer,Programming
David MacWilliams   Composer
Almond   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Steve Price   Engineer
Billy McGee   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Justin Vickerman   Assistant Engineer
Gregg Jackmann   Engineer
Inga Humpe   Programming
Trevor Horn   Composer,Producer