Things were better honed for No-Man on Flowermouth, released a year after the band's debut. Minus Ben Coleman (although you'd never guess because he appears on seven of nine tracks), Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson were aided by Robert Fripp, Ian Carr, Steve Jansen, and Richard Barbieri (who recorded the excellent set Flame with Bowness in the same year). Beginning with the epic "Angel Gets Caught in the Beauty Trap," which is almost ten minutes on the original and longer on the reissue, things flow as Bowness' soothing vocal gives way to solos by Carr and Fripp. "You Grow More Beautiful" is another hit that might have been, while "Animal Ghost" is what Arthur Ransom, the author of Swallows and Amazons, might have sounded like had he chosen music instead of literature -- a very English affair with a meandering piano line (removed on the reissue) and flute solo. "Soft Shoulders" is the closest to a throwaway, but "Shell of a Fighter" restores order, an enthralling piece expanding to nearly eight minutes of lilting pastoral verse, quiet passages of electronics, and an all out storm of squally guitars and ferrocious drumming. "Teardrop Falls," one of their best, is a paced yet graceful pop dance tune. Flowermouth has serenity, too, in "Watching Over Me," which may have been better following "Shell." "Simple" uses a sample courtesy of Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, roaming through contemporary club beats to reach a haunting climax. "Things Change" is the endgame, with the lyrics "You're leaving me behind you, I hate the way things change" sung in earnest. Gentle again, giving way to Wilson's emotionally wrought guitar mimicking the gut wrenching agony of love lost. A masterpiece of writing and playing recommended beyond reason. ~ Kelvin Hayes, All Music Guide
Chris Maitland (Drums), Ian Carr (Trumpet), Steve Jansen (Percussion), Steven Wilson (Programming), Graeme Holdaway (Assistant), Tim Bowness (Vocals), Steven Wilson (Engineer), Steven Wilson (Mixing), Steven Wilson (Producer), Steven Wilson (Guitar), Richard Barbieri (Electronics), Steven Wilson (Bass), Steven Wilson (Keyboards), Douglas Brothers (Photography), Robert Fripp (Guitar), Chris Maitland (Percussion), Graeme Holdaway (Assistant Engineer), Robert Fripp (Frippertronics)
Flowermouth is the second studio album by British duo No-Man, released on April, 1994 on the One Little Indian Records label, and subsequently reissued on September, 1999 by 3rd. Stone Ltd, and in a deluxe format by Snapper Music in February 2005.
Flowermouth was considered the band's most ambitious album to date, and remains a fan favourite. Despite being the band's best selling release, it was obvious by now that No-Man couldn't continue along the path which their record company wanted them to follow. Following Flowermouth's release, No-Man parted company with both One Little Indian in Britain and Epic/Sony in the US.
Long-term band member Ben Coleman had left prior to the album's release and by 1994, the band had effectively retired from live performance.
Considered a vitally important evolution, the album realised the expansive promise of the band's earlier material. Combining dream pop, art rock and moody minimalism, with an epic orchestral scope, Flowermouth was well served by the guest performances of Japan/Rain Tree Crow's Jansen and Barbieri, King Crimson's Robert Fripp and Mel Collins, jazz trumpeter Ian Carr and eerie Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard.
The original One Little Indian version of Flowermouth features several slightly different mixes to the ones featured on the later reissues.
For this second reissue, Steven has delivered a definitive remaster and the band have added two bonus tracks to the running order ("Angeldust" and "Born Simple", both originally from the now-deleted "Flowermix" album and featuring extensive Soundscape contributions from Robert Fripp). The reissue also features improved digi-pack artwork and new sleevenotes containing a combined band interview/essay by music journalist Dann Chinn[1].
