| Six years after its Japan-only release on the After Hours label, the much-talked-about but seldom-heard Fed, the second album by Liam Hayes' Plush, finally gets a wider audience. Since Plush's debut 7", Three Quarters Blind Eyes / Found A Little Baby was released to universal praise in 1994 on Drag City, the tale of Plush has been one mostly concerned with the promise of new recordings, scrapped sessions, rumor and speculation concerning Hayes' quest to match the songs in his head with the recordings in his hand. What has been vastly overlooked is the music. It was four years before Drag City released Plush's debut album, More You Becomes You. Few albums can be described as being truly unique, but More You Becomes You is, without doubt, one of those albums that can actually put in a serious bid for that description. While a full-blown orchestral pop album was indeed planned, Hayes instead delivered a uniquely minimal set of intimate piano & vocal ballads, which somehow managed to present a unique, first-take feel despite the incredible attention to detail Hayes applied to the performances and recordings that had actually taken place. Although upon completion Hayes found himself without a label in either the US or Europe, the artistic success of the album could not be denied. Throughout its 14 tracks, from the roaring opening track 'Whose Blues' to the epic 'No Education' to the pop-masterpiece 'Born Together' to the closing lullaby 'The Woods,' Fed remains spectacularly melodic and inventive throughout. Upon its Japanese release, Uncut called the album 'the dazzling symphonic album he always threatened to produce,' whilst Rolling Stone called it a 'soulful symphonic masterpiece' suggesting that its non-domestic release was further proof of the decline of American culture." |
