In Contact
Songs for No One gives In Contact an early emotional centre. The guitar can stand beside Jim Grey's voice, answer it with a clear melodic line, then push the whole arrangement into a heavier movement. Caligula's Horse make that exchange feel like a conversation with something at stake.
The record's interest in creativity and human connection provides a broad frame, but the songs do not require a detailed explanation of their stories. Dream the Dead establishes the band's ability to move between technical force and a more exposed melody. Will's Song (Let the Colours Run) is a more concentrated attack, with bass and drums keeping the heavy passages agile rather than merely imposing.
The shorter pieces are useful changes of perspective. Love Conquers All has an inviting acoustic beginning, although the programmed percussion gives it a less individual setting than its melody deserves. Capulet is more effective through restraint, allowing small keyboard and guitar details to make the vocal feel closer. Their presence helps the larger songs retain a sense of scale.
Fill My Heart develops another persuasive relationship between intimate singing and more forceful instrumental expression. The guitar leads have a strong melodic purpose, and the changes in intensity feel responsive to the voice. The musicians are capable of considerable speed, but the song's character depends on their judgement about when to make space.
Inertia and the Weapon of the Wall is a more divisive interruption. Grey's spoken performance has conviction, yet its length briefly holds the musical sequence at a distance. The transition into The Cannon's Mouth restores momentum with enough force to give the preceding words a useful consequence.
Graves gathers the album's ambitions into its strongest extended piece. Quiet guitar, multiple vocal lines, heavier figures and a late saxophone contribution form a substantial arc, with the final rhythmic statement feeling prepared by the journey before it. In Contact is an elaborate album that remains grounded in expressive songs. Its most rewarding passages make the playing feel inseparable from the desire to communicate, and Graves gives that desire an exceptionally convincing form.
