:: Mary Star Of The Sea

Zwan

Zwan is Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins), Matt Sweeny (Chavez), Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle) and David Pajo (Slint, Papa M). Think of 5 distinctly individual, yet accomplished artists, working on the same canvas and you are not far from describing ‘Mary Star of the Sea’- an intriguing, perplexing and beautiful array of dissonant colours, shapes, textures and sounds. A fusion of assorted sonic treats, some sweet and some a tad sour, go into making this mixed jar of musical delights. ‘Honestly’ has an off centre pop sensibility, with a big distorted guitar sound and lonesome but breezy mood. Billy Corgan seems to have been through somewhat of a transition for the Smashing Pumpkin days, abandoning the aggression to lead us all on a voyage of loneliness and longing. With chorus lines like ‘until I die, I’m a broken heart,’ the track ‘Of A Broken Heart’ exhibits a striking sweetness and earnestness. The big guitar riffs of ‘Honestly’ are replaced with the more soothing tones of a string section offering a clean, stripped down sound. The brightness and upbeat tone of the album does not enough to distract from Corgan’s nasal whine that gives the album a familiar nagging, like an itch that cant be scratched. The album’s low point is the laboured and tiresome ‘Jesus/Mary Star of the Sea,’ bringing the album, along with the rather uninspired ‘Come With Me’ to a rather uneasy conclusion.