Silent Life’, released in 2007 by the Hau Ruck! label of Der Blutharsch founder Albin Julius, is the fifth album from London-based industrial folk-pop band Naevus. The first thing to be said about it is that it’s a much more concise and coherent work than their last album, the bewilderingly eclectic Perfection Is A Process of 2004. The band is now a four-piece outfit, with the core members, singer and guitarist Lloyd James and bassist, accordionist and keyboard player Joanne Owen joined by Greg Ferrari on electric guitar and John Murphy (KnifeLadder, Shining Vril, Death In June, SPK etc.) on drums. Although Greg and John made frequent guest appearances on previous Naevus releases, their inclusion as permanent members does seem to have helped to make Silent Life a more structured and disciplined album. Naevus are a band with a lot of friends, though, and as usual, this album is graced with a number of interesting appearances from guest musicians. This time around, they’re joined by David E. Williams of The Urge Within on piano and keyboards and Matt Howden of Sieben and Sol Invictus on violin. Rose McDowall of Sorrow, Strawberry Switchblade, NON, Current 93, Death In June etc. contributes her unique vocals to four tracks, and the addition of female vocals makes a big difference to the Naevus sound, which is lighter, brighter and poppier than previous albums, displaying little of the neo-folk and Death In June influences of earlier works like Behaviour. The album opener, ‘Spring Summer Railway’ has a real 60s loungecore feel behind its thunderous drums and Morricone-style Latin guitar, and the wistful ‘Castles In Spain’, one of the album’s strongest tracks, evidently developed as a tribute to the French doyen of decadence, Serge Gainsbourg. Its bass line is derived from that of ’69 Année Erotique’, a track from Gainsbourg’s 1969 album with Jane Birkin, Rose McDowall’s backing vocals are appropriately ethereal, and David E. Williams throws in some truly shagadelic keyboards. Lloyd James’ lyrics for the song contain references to ‘Franco’, which are initially a bit baffling, but when I interviewed Naevus recently, Lloyd, rather embarrassed, explained that this is intended to refer to Jess Franco, the Spanish exploitation film director, not General Franco, the Spanish fascist dictator! ‘Bobby Shafto’ is a return to the mordant Naevus of old, with its nursery rhyme-derived lyrics about a drowning sheep, and ‘Kill Your Friends’ invites comparisons to Swans around the Love Of Life era. Naevus have been playing ‘Hasty Bastard’ live for at least two years, and its spiky charm, strong narration and ‘grew through the hardware’ refrain make it memorable here. ‘The Ballad Of Benjamin Munt’ boasts some strong bass playing from Joanne Owen, as well as her accordion-playing, which is generally less prominent on this album than it has been in the past. ‘White Love’ is an odd little broken-backed waltz (or is it a foxtrot?) with a tinkling barroom piano line, sounding like something by Tom Waits or The Handsome Family. Silent Life waits until the closing track to really pull out the big guns, though. ‘Dominic’s Song’, a gloriously swelling, expansive, redemptive eulogy to a friend killed in a car accident, also draws its inspiration from 60s pop, specifically big, upbeat production numbers like The Byrds’ ‘Eight Miles High’ and The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’. This is what U2 would sound like if they weren’t such corporate shitheads. If Naevus are ever going to have a hit, this song ought to be it. All they need now is a video to put on YouTube.