''Flowermouth'' is the second studio album by British duo

No-Man No-Man are an English art pop duo, formed in 1987 as No Man Is an Island (Except the Isle of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced seven studio albums and a number of singles/outtake ...

, released in 1994 on the

One Little Indian Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...

label, and subsequently reissued in September 1999 by 3rd. Stone Ltd, and in a deluxe format by Snapper Music in February 2005.

History

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

couldn't continue along the path which their record company wanted them to follow. Following ''Flowermouths release,

parted company with both One Little Indian in Britain and Epic/Sony in the US. Long-term band member Ben Coleman 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 realized the expansive promise of the band's earlier material. Combining

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

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 King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

and

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

, jazz trumpeter

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus (band), Nucleus, and was an associate professor a ...

and

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are a British-Australian band founded in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, before relocating to London the following year. The Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "const ...

singer

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer and member of the group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique (glossolalia). She has a ...

. The original One Little Indian version of Flowermouth features several slightly different mixes to the ones featured on the later reissues. For the second reissue,

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

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 ''Flowermix'' is a remix album by British Art rock band No-Man made by the band and selected underground remixers. It is a compilation of remixed and reworked songs from their '' Flowermouth'' album. Track listing All songs by Bowness / Wilson ...

" album and featuring extensive soundscape contributions from

). The reissue also features improved digi-pack artwork and new sleevenotes containing a combined band interview/essay by music journalist Dann Chinn. Portions of the recording sessions ran parallel to those of the Barbieri & Bowness'

Flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

project (released two months later, also on One Little Indian). Wire Magazine, in conjunction with the label, distributed a four-track sampler CD with their July 1994 issue which included two tracks from each release. The strings from the end of "Watching Over Me" were later sampled for the song "Only Rain" on '' Returning Jesus'' in 2001. A music video was made for the song "You Grow More Beautiful."

Track listing

#"Angel Gets Caught in the Beauty Trap" – 9:56 #"You Grow More Beautiful" – 5:37 #"Animal Ghost" – 6:09 #"Soft Shoulders" – 3:57 #"Shell of a Fighter" – 7:48 #"Teardrop Fall" – 4:37 #"Watching Over Me" – 4:48 #"Simple" – 7:03 #"Things Change" – 7:31

2005 bonus tracks

#"Angeldust" – 9:11 #"Born Simple" – 12:09

Personnel

Tim Bowness Tim Bowness (born 29 November 1963) is an English singer and songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson. Music career In addition to recording albu ...

– vocals, words *

– instruments with: *

Richard Barbieri Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), he became the keyboard player in the prog ...

– electronics (5) *

– trumpet (1) * Ben Coleman – violins (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), electric violin (9) *

– soprano saxophone (1), flute (3, 6) *

– guitar (1, 3, 5, 6, 8),

frippertronics Frippertronics is a tape looping technique used by English guitarist Robert Fripp.Fricke, David"Electronic Music and Synthesizers", ''Synapse Magazine'', Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 1979. It marked the first real-time tape looping device, evolving from a ...

(1, 5, 8, 9) *

– voice sample (8) *

Steve Jansen Steve Jansen (born Stephen Ian Batt, born 1 December 1959) is an English musician, composer and record producer. Biography Jansen was a founding member of the band Japan (band), Japan, along with his brother David Sylvian (vocals, guitars and ...

– percussion (7) * Chris Maitland – drums (1, 9), percussion (1, 3) * Silas Maitland – fretless bass (1)

Release history

References

{{Authority control No-Man albums One Little Independent Records albums 1994 albums