On first hearing,
Graham Lewis' 1986 debut solo album -- released under the name
He Said -- must have sounded like a considerable change in direction for the
Wire bassist. In contrast with the often abrasive, deconstructed rock of early
Wire records like Pink Flag and Chairs Missing and the abstract soundscapes Lewis recorded with
Bruce Gilbert as Dome in the early '80s,
He Said marked a thoughtful foray into more mainstream territory with one eye on the dancefloor. For the most part,
Hail is an accessible, electronically oriented album boasting atmospheric arrangements and programmed beats. On numbers like "Pump" and the plaintive "Com'era Dov'era," the combination of drifting grooves and deep, laid-back vocals finds Lewis making himself over as an alternative
Bryan Ferry. (Former
Roxy Music cohort
Brian Eno even contributes keyboards on "I Fall Into Your Arms.") Some tracks wouldn't have sounded out of place in the charts at the time, particularly those with more melody, like the upbeat "Only One I" or the duet "Do You Mean That?" (with Angela Conway).
He Said's pop leanings notwithstanding,
Hail has roots in the experimental ethos informing previous Lewis projects like Dome, for which idiosyncratic aural collages were constructed from loops of found sound, fragmented instrumentation, and repetitive rhythms. While
Hail tends toward more orthodox song arrangements, it incorporates familiar Gilbert/Lewis ingredients. The specter of Dome makes its presence heard on the quirky "Kidnap Yourself," with its jumpy beat and recurrent, cartoonish noise bursts, and on "Flagwearing," which features snatches of gospel singing and a rare vocal turn from
Bruce Gilbert, who also plays the possibly apocryphal "three-hand guitar." Working more than before within a mainstream idiom, Lewis brings a characteristically intelligent twist to his material. This sensibility would be further explored on
He Said's 1988 follow-up,
Take Care. ~ Wilson Neate