Words For The Dying (LP)

Among the many turns left of the art rock legacy John Cale is known for, Words For The Dying stands out in his manifold discography. Released in 1989 and produced by his longtime friend and collaborator Brian Eno, it began life seven years earlier during the Falklands War, where Cale found himself at a confluence between Dylan Thomas poems, densely layered classical arrangements, and the agony of the surrounding world. Yet, while reckoning with times of chaos and peril, Words For The Dying does so with flying compositions that don't often come across as openly dark and foreboding, adding to its charm.

The topics of war and death crept throughout Dylan Thomas's poems just as they do throughout Words For The Dying. While Cale doesn't recontextualise the subject matter, he takes these poems far beyond the text with grandiose flourishes of strings and brass recorded in pre-Glasnost Moscow. John Cale flexes his composition skills, poetry repertoire, and dynamic abilities as a performer on this gem in his discography.