Julian Plenti - Biography
You could say that Julian Plenti is the side project of Paul Banks from globe-dominating 80s revivalists Interpol, but it’s actually kind of the other way around. Julian Plenti started playing acoustic shows around small clubs in New York City in the late 90s, and (to take this little conceit further) his alter ego Paul Banks joined Interpol as lead singer and guitarist in 1998. In 2006, he doffed the Plenti cape again and started demo-ing new songs on his newly acquired Logic Pro software. He started working with, among others, musicians Sam Fogarino of Interpol on drums and Mike Stroud of Ratatat on guitar. They went to work on an album, and August of 2009 saw the debut, Julian Plenti is Skyscraper.
Interpol became ubiquitous in the mid-2000s, and one of their most distinctive traits has always been Banks’ forceful, anguished baritone, like Ian Curtis cranked up half an octave. His voice is perfect for cutting through Interpol’s high-power drama and insistent, bludgeoning rhythms. There’s no denying that Skyscraper is influenced by Interpol, but most of the songs here are unquestionably distinctive, with a lighter touch, and the Plenti-style singing more sotto voxed. It’s impressive how varied the songs are and how Plenti manages to create such a complexity of mood. A couple of the tracks, like “Fun That We Have” and “Games for Days” are straightforward pop songs, Interpol-infused, with a quirky spin. But something like “Skyscraper” opens up a much more spacious sonic field, patient and melancholy with a hypnotic acoustic guitar line, groaning cello, mysterious chanting (and what sometimes come across like coyote yips) — a subtle exercise in space and textures. “Madrid Song,” with its slow, aching violin and piano with a scratchy, slightly tormented vocal, all of which accompany a weary plea to “just make me a stronger person.”
Plenti draws from a distinctive sonic palette on Skyscraper: guitars, of course, nature sounds, loops keyboards and lots of classical orchestration. And his vocal approach relaxed confident, the urgent Interpol strangle is all but gone, allowing his more complex, breathy tones to show through, particularly on “No Chance Survival,” a woozy pop song with a stand-up bass thumping underneath dissonant wails in a spooky music box. His voice is more part of the textural field in “H,” an odd, shapeshifting track that opens up with a bittersweet piano riff surrounded by crackles, birdsong and swirling ebow, until it erupts into a portentous, orchestral drone and a heavily electronically affected, chanting vocal. It’s almost pure mood, unexpectedly changing from sunny to troubled to disturbing. An absolutely essential track is “Unwind,” which kicks off with an exuberant synth groove and a joyous brass section. Not only is it supremely uplifting but it also at the same time manages express an exquisite, heart wrenching sorrow underneath -- perhaps the best example of Plenti’s mastery of juxtaposing moods. Any artist who can so successfully distinguish their solo work from a band as mighty as Interpol deserves an enormous amount of credit, and Skyscraper leaves no doubt that Plenti is more than up to the task. He has made a complete revolution from acoustic NYC troubadour to global phenomenon to an accomplished inventive solo artist. Oh wait … this is his main band.
