Japan, which also included Mick Karn, Rob Dean, Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen, started out as a confusing hybrid rock/sleaze outfit in the mould of David Bowie and The New York Dolls. Their music quickly evolved as, at least to begin with, they drew heavily on the influence of Roxy Music's art rock stylings. Their visual image developed in parallel and the band were (unwillingly) tagged as forerunners of the New Romantic movement.
Japan recorded five studio albums between March 1978 and November 1981. Their biggest hit single, the minimalist Ghosts, which reached the Top 5 in the UK charts in 1982, was a clear pointer to Sylvian's future direction. After a successful tour, the band split in late 1982, and Sylvian embarked upon a solo career.
Around the time of Sylvian's first solo album he collaborated with 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto) on the soundtrack music for the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), which produced a Top 20 hit single, Forbidden Colours.
Sylvian's debut solo album, the jazz and ambient-influenced Brilliant Trees (1984), met with critical acclaim and yielded the single Red Guitar, another Top 20 hit. Guest artists included Jon Hassell and Holger Czukay. His follow-up was an instrumental EP Alchemy which cemented his drift away from commercial pop
The EP was in turn followed by the double album Gone to Earth (1986), which flouted convention (and perhaps commercial wisdom) by featuring one record of songs (predominantly atmospheric ballads) and one consisting almost entirely of ambient instrumental tracks. Guest artists included guitarists Robert Fripp and Bill Nelson.
His third album, Secrets of the Beehive (1987), was more acoustic and oriented towards somber, emotive ballads laced with string arrangements by 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto). It yielded one of Sylvian's most well-received songs, Orpheus, and was supported by his first solo tour, 1988's "In Praise of Shamans". Sylvian's touring band included ex-Japan bandmates Jansen and Barbieri along with trumpeter Mark Isham, bassist Ian Maidman and guitarists David Torn and Robbie Aceto.
Never one to conform to commercial expectations, Sylvian then collaborated on several ambient music projects with artists including Holger Czukay and Russell Mills.
In 1991, a highly-anticipated Japan reunion (excluding Rob Dean) ended in acrimony. Sylvian insisted on calling the project and the album Rain Tree Crow, to the dismay of both his label Virgin Records (who were hoping for a hit "comeback" album) and his former bandmates. Guitarists Bill Nelson, Phil Palmer and Michael Brook augmented the quartet for the recording of the album.
In late 1991, Robert Fripp approached Sylvian and asked him to be part of a new King Crimson. Sylvian declined and instead suggested they work on a future collaboration resulting in the release of The First Day.
A period of relative musical inactivity followed, during which time Sylvian moved to the United States. Eventually in 1999, Sylvian released Dead Bees on a Cake. It showed the most eclectic influence of all his recordings, ranging from soul music to jazz fusion to Eastern spiritual chants, and most of the songs' lyrics reflecting Sylvian's inner peace with his marriage (to the wonderful poet/singer Ingrid Chavez), family and beliefs. Guest artists included longtime friend 坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto), as well as Talvin Singh, Marc Ribot, Kenny Wheeler and Bill Frisell.
Sylvian parted ways with Virgin and launched his own independent label, Samadhi Sound. Sylvian experimented alone with treated sounds made from his guitar and computer. The results were recorded during February of 2003. A few months later, he released the album Blemish. The disc was stark in its sound and content. The lyrical subject matter dealt primarily with the impending dissolution of Sylvian's marriage. In 2005 The Good Son vs The Only Daughter was released, which was comprised of remixes of tracks from Blemish.
With the conclusion of "A Fire In The Forest Tour" in 2004, work resumed on a joint project between Sylvian and Jansen. Yet the course of the album took on a completely new tone after Sylvian decided to add keyboardist/vibraphonist/programmer Burnt Friedman to the proceedings and make him an equal partner in the collaboration. The band name of Nine Horses was adopted and the CD, titled Snow Borne Sorrow, was released in October of 2005. The sound was a return to more traditional avenues for Sylvian after the radical departure he took with Blemish. Elements of avant-garde jazz, pop, folk and electronic music were all blended together
Nine Horses' Money For All EP was released in 2006, which included new material as well as Burnt Friedman remixes of songs selected from their first disc.
News on Sylvian's website was released in March stating that "We're preparing for the release of David’s new album Manafon. It’s a powerfully bold, uncompromising work featuring contributions from Evan Parker, John Tilbury, Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, and many more."
David Sylvian's official website: www.davidsylvian.com
A Certain Slant of Light
David Sylvian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the heft
Of cathedral tunes
Heavenly hurt, it gives us
We can find no scar
But internal difference
None may teach it, any
'Tis the seal of despair
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air
When it comes, the landscape listens
Shadows hold their breath
When it goes, 'tis like the distance
On the look of death
In David Sylvian's song A Certain Slant of Light, the lyrics are a meditation on the melancholic experience of winter afternoons. The slant of light that appears on winter afternoons is symbolic of the human condition, where the heaviness of existence, like the weight of cathedral tunes, can be crushing. The "heavenly hurt" that the light brings is difficult to put into words or even recognize because it is an internal sensation, a difference in us that exists where the meanings are.
The light, in its oppressive nature, can be seen as a metaphor for depression, a state that can not be fully understood or taught to others. It is a seal of despair, an imperial affliction from the air itself that affects us all. When the light comes, it changes the landscape, and the shadows hold their breath, and when it goes, death is suggested in the distance. The poem could be seen as an acknowledgement of the sadness that one feels in the waning of life, in the cold and dark of winter, and the inevitability of our ultimate end.
In summary, David Sylvian's poetic lyrics in A Certain Slant of Light is a meditation on the existential weight of existence, the melancholy of winter afternoons, and the power of the slant of light to transform the landscape and emotions that it touches.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a certain slant of light
On winter afternoons, a particular type of sunlight emerges
Winter afternoons
Only appears in the winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the heft
Like the weight of something heavy, it feels oppressive
Of cathedral tunes
Similar to the feeling one experiences while listening to solemn church music
Heavenly hurt, it gives us
Although not physically painful, it creates a sense of emotional suffering
We can find no scar
There isn't a visible mark or injury
But internal difference
The difference is within our thoughts and feelings
Where the meanings are
Where the emotions and thoughts are most affected
None may teach it, any
Nobody can explain or teach how to avoid it
'Tis the seal of despair
It's a signature mark of hopelessness and sadness
An imperial affliction
A dominating and powerful pain
Sent us of the air
Comes to us from the atmosphere
When it comes, the landscape listens
The environment becomes extremely silent when it happens
Shadows hold their breath
The shadows seem to stop moving
When it goes, 'tis like the distance
When it ends, it gradually fades like a faraway sound
On the look of death
That which one might expect to see at the time of death
Contributed by Daniel S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.