I’m writing up my experience listening to Christine & The Queens new album with Pitchblack Playback - which I thoroughly recommend to all music fans
We live in a visual world of short form video, of TikTok and Instagram scrolls - almost permanent nagging distractions and a conveyor belt instant gratification. Much of this applies to our relationship with music. If you follow enough artists, you can feel like you are consuming their work without ever actually listening to their records.
Yet music albums were designed to be the polar opposite of this. Albums are meant to be an immersive, focused experience. The only distraction should be to get off the sofa and turn the record over. This is the ethos of Pitchblack Playback. The British curation and experience brand encourages music fans to “hear classic (and new) albums & exclusive pre-release premieres on powerful, immersive sound systems, in the dark”. Founded way back in 2006, the brand survived the pandemic to expand into a global presence.
Listening to whole albums from start to finish in almost complete darkness (augmented courtesy of a free eye mask - which can make you feel like you are about to take a long haul flight) might sound challenging when you consider the times we live in, but it is a refreshingly fun experience.
This most recent event was one of a series by Pitchblack that celebrates the best albums of 2023. The event was held in partnership with L-ACOUSTICS Creations at the brand's Highgate listening room.
This meant we were about to hear the record in a completely different way, via L ACOUSTIC’s 18.12.1 sound system, comprising 18 highly responsive Syva speakers, 12 ambient speakers in the room’s ceiling and then bottomed out with 24 subs-woofers. However, the combined 50,000 watts of power never sounds too loud or overbearing in this room, which is something to be appreciated. We (around 25 lucky musos) were greeted with a free drink and ushered in, each anticipative listener issued with their own beanbag & headrest.
And so to the record in question: Christine & The Queens’ most recent release PARANOIA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. Now this happens to be one of my personal choices of the year and will feature prominently in our Song Sommelier ’Decanted’ for 2023.
The album is sonically incredible anyhow, so how would it sound rendered in spatial audio in the dark? As one happy listener remarked during the interval (it is a 96 minute long record) the answer is “a real treat”.
There isn’t a minute of this record I don’t love. Across its 20 tracks, it has fine arrangements and comes together as a concept album (in my own fantasy, it’s as if George Michael recorded the soundtrack to Blade Runner 3).
However, remarkably, the record really consists of four sonic elements: bass, voice, beats and synth. Via the medium of L ACOUSTICS systems, each of those elements is given a massive shot of Compound V.
The bass isn’t just deep, it is heart-palping and body-vibrating. However, it is never threatening but always warm and welcome - like a cuddle from a friendly alien life force.
Christine’s voice is sharp and clear, with the spoken word elements on songs such as the extraordinary “Track 10” particularly striking (the same goes for Madonna’s spoken cameos on two tracks, which are very Blade Runner-esque).
Meanwhile the drumming is incredible. Performed by Darren King on the record, the mix here adds a depth to his work that surprises and delights (and stops you falling asleep which is hard to resist under the circumstances).
Finally the synths and sonic effects on the album are given added spatial dimension without adding anything gimmicky.
The occasion does transform you. It either has your mind wandering pleasantly or, at its best, simply lost in the music. The Pitchblack Playback rituals (including an introduction and pep talk by Founder Ben Gomori) provide an excuse to be disciplined about actually listening and doing nothing else (it should come with a ‘just you try this at home’ warning).
It’s well worth a modest ticket price. As an alternative to a movie, theatre, gig or night out eating & drinking it stands up very well if you’re a music fan. And it might just be more memorable if you get the right record, so make an evening of it.
On its release, PARANOIA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE was (bafflingly) received by critics with mixed reviews. Helen Brown of The Independent summarised the album as "requiring serious investment on the listener's part". But Helen forgot to mention the payback.
They should all have gone along to this and eaten their words during the interval.
