Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – Outstanding!

Is it how it’s gonna be? Me, rambling at every new Poets of the Fall album release… well, maybe not ? because Ultraviolet exceeds all of my expectations, although I have to admit that my expectations were rather over the roof when I heard the teaser. Still, exceeds expectations is how I would rate Ultraviolet. No way… an outstanding is more like it. This being said, where should I start…

Gargantuan Craving

As most of you, dear readers, have, I have been patiently waiting – biting my nails – for Ultraviolet. I do believe that I have been waiting ever since I saw Poets of the Fall live in Helsinki on their 15th anniversary (or maybe I started the waiting even earlier, though I may not have known it). My husband asked me recently if I knew where this hunger I have for live music, and for Poets of the Fall music came from, and I answered that I did not… not really. I said then that maybe it came from the fact that I never allowed myself to be a fan before… at least not like that, because in my entourage, I was already teased for being a groupie (as a teenager) and I felt ashamed I suppose. But, since I believe that everything happens for a reason, I was meant to experience this in order to experience today the way I am ?. So it’s all good!

Now, and again, Poets of the Fall are like my own brand of chocolate – or should I say their music is… – and that I crave their music like Gargantua would. Ultraviolet has the velvety taste of the perfect blend dark and light. My forever unsated hunger for the band’s music made me react “uncontrollably” when I listened to Ultraviolet: loads of “Wow” and “Awwww” and “OMG” and “What?!“… you know how it goes, right?! If you haven’t gotten that I love the album by now, then I don’t know in which language I should say it… “J’adore!”, “Älskar det”, “Rakastan sitä” (says Google translate). Am I partial? I sure hope so… but I just don’t swallow anything because I am a fan. We all have our opinions, and all are entitled to them, but do not pretend to know why I love something.

Emotional roller-coaster

As soon as I got the iTunes download available I printed the lyrics… since I need to wait a little longer to actually hold the CD. Marko‘s singing is more intimate than it has ever been before… although it might have come close on a couple of songs on Clearview, yet another great album (no matter how one likes – or not – the production). Ultraviolet is softer and has a different musical approach than previous releases, but why – in Poets’ name – would you keep on comparing their albums? Change is the constant here, so that we all can move forward. Isn’t it the point of Art? Look at the body of work Poets of the Fall has created, and the messages behind it all, Ultraviolet is perfect… of course this is my own conception of perfection and I am not trying to persuade anyone other than to respect my opinion, not because I am a fan but because of what Ultraviolet made me feel.

My Dark Disquiet had me go like this: “huh uh… hmm hmm… yes, yes…” and then suddenly the uncontrollable laugh of joy as Marko intoned:

Without names we’re fantasising
Dancing like flames, mesmerising
My dark disquiet playing such eerie harmonies
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – My Dark Disquiet

and that intro… is so, dare I say eerie… this is going to be so epic live, I can barely contain my enthusiasm… my favourite lines would have to be:

We are momentary masters
We’re false kings and bastards
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – My Dark Disquiet

I have not begun to scratch the surface of what the song’s meaning is and what it means to be, but I am covered with chills as I listen to it as I write this. So uplifting… You know I will write a post for my favourite tracks anyway ?.

Standstill… this is my very personal one. Intimate guitar, and then Marko starts sing softly, my relationship with my husband… got me crying a few times as he sing the chorus and the bridge. But to me these are more than just nice words, they hold such deep meaning… yeah, it is what I have been through and at the same time I’d like to sing to him – not meaning Marko here:

But it’s alright if you fall
You just get up, just go on
Never mind the hurt, even if you burn
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – Standstill

So, as I think I can recover from that song comes The Sweet Escape… dying softly as I hear

Cos you’re fearless in your love
Devoted to compassion […]
My fierce friend
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – The Sweet Escape

If I recall I kinda stopped breathing for a few seconds, letting the tears roll on my cheeks and allowing the chills to form this blanket around my body. This song is so beautiful! But why stop there, I mean the roller-coaster never stops and Moments Before the Storm starts and who can say that Marko‘s singing falls short on Ultraviolet? This is beyond me… and this haunting bell in that song kind of surprised me…

[…] that we’re not just like moths to flame
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – Moments Before the Storm

In a Perfect World, Angel and Choir of Cicadas… well at least you know which songs have made me weak in the knees. I have a lot to think about and need to dig myself in each song to write more about them.

[…] but baby, we’re not here to stay […]
In a perfect world we’d never die
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – In a Perfect World

My home is my skin
And in the world I’ve within
All I have is my love for you […]
Kiss the feathers of a humming bird in flight
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – Angel

Don’t wait for the hour to give birth to doubt […]
I have no more words to describe
An empty sky of hollow blue, yeah
2018 © Poets of the Fall – Ultraviolet – Choir of Cicadas

I will let you ponder on these amazing and magical lines… my eyes are teary and I am rather too emotional, still, to be able to write further. Three weeks to go before I get to hear this diamond get to life on stage… Poets of the Fall, you never cease to amaze me!

Until next time, yours truly ?

PS: You might have noticed that I did not talk about False Kings and Dancing on Broken Glass… but I already did in individual posts ?… Fool’s Paradise is not mentioned either, but will get its post as well, fear not!

PS 2: October 6th do not forget to buy your tickets to Poets of the Fall exceptional live performance at ProgPower festival in Atlanta in September 2019… check the link in the sidebar