In the new edition of The Wire, Manafon is ranked as number 6 in their records of the year.
They write:
"In the follow-up to 2003's Blemish, five years in the making, Sylvian drew on the improvising talents of AMM's John Tilbury, members of Polwechsel (Dafeldecker, Stangl, Moser), Evan Parker, Keith Rowe, Otomo Yoshide, Franz Hautzinger, Sachiko M, Fennesz and more, to create a timbrally subtle set of hermit-like song utterances. We said: "The album's true pleasure comes in the way Sylvian's vocal lines respond to the gravitational tugs and disorientations of the improvisations, abruptly curving into a space, modulating volume shifts..."
There is also a contribution from David in the Musicians' Reflections section that follows.
He says:
"A year of solitude, silence and healing intersected by two rejuvenating periods of travel. In 2009, as in the preceding couple of years, I listened to relatively little music with the exception of contemporary classical, with which I've begun to make lasting connections. A personal and global period of transition with positive steps taken towards recovery. My own recipe is to begin with silence rising to a small, still, sustained voice. Just like starting over"
Nice to hear grudging praise from The Wire after that odd review. Much better still to hear David sounding optimistic and suggesting that he's on a happier track.