Rick Wright - Broken China (Review)

Thought I’d do a review post of Rick Wright’s second solo album ‘Broken China’, as I’ve been listening to it a lot recently and it gets almost no attention.

Background: after having a good time on the Division Bell tour but frustrated at the compromises he had to make with the rest of the band on the album (including his desire to make a concept album), Rick decided to make a second solo album with Anthony Moore, who’d written the lyrics to 'Wearing The Inside Out' (as well as various tracks on AMLOR). If you like that song (I love that song), this is very much 'Wearing The Inside Out: The Album'. Although he wasn’t confident in his own voice, initially intending to make it an instrumental album, he eventually decided to perform much of the vocal workload himself, feeling more able to experiment with the vocal parts to his liking in the privacy of his own studio.

The album is about a ‘close female friend’ of his, later revealed to have been his wife, and her struggle with clinical depression. It’s divided into four parts, four tracks each: childhood, adolescence, depression, resolution. Sonically it feels more new-age and ambient than rock at times, but to me it definitely feels Floyd-like in structure and in terms of the songs themselves.

1. ‘Breaking Water’: short introductory synth-y instrumental, not a lot to say. Little samples of Sinead’s vocals in there from 'Reaching for the Rail', which is pretty nice; some other vocal samples too, one of which sounds like it’s Anthony Moore's voice.

2. ‘Night Of A Thousand Furry Toys’ (video): the first song of the album, and a very ominous and creepy start. Features vocals by both Rick and Anthony, and the lyrics evoke isolation and discomfort very well. Very weird video, too. A remix was made of this one. 7/10

“Now you feel it, a shiver and you begin
Frozen breath that scrapes across the skin
And a sound you've never heard before, you screaming” – what a start to a Rick Wright album!

3. ‘Hidden Fear’: One of two tracks (along with 'Blue Room in Venice') that was an instrumental right until the end of production, with lyrics by Gerry Gordon (I can’t find a single trace of this guy, if anyone knows anything I’d love to know more about him). Very introspective and sounds like a quiet internal monologue, with its lack of rhythm or rhyme scheme – it suits Rick’s voice very well. Weirdly this was chosen to be a single, and the music video was apparently banned because it had scenes of breastfeeding in it – I can’t find it anywhere online. Not exactly memorable, but fits the album very well. 6/10

“Why do we feel this adult pain
And hold these secrets that don't belong?
This loneliness has no place with us
The silence grows, it has no place with life”

4. ‘Runaway’: An instrumental composed solely by Anthony Moore. Given the title, likely represents the child running away from home after a traumatic event? Like ‘Toys’ it feels very creepy and ominous, but no lyrics this time. Brief cello solo, as well as the usual synth-y stuff, with rhythmic drums and bass through most of the track. There are some remixes of this, one of which is on Spotify, I believe.

5. ‘Unfair Ground’ (YouTube link): Short instrumental. Title appears to be a pun on 'fairground', going by the sounds in the track (sounds a bit like the middle bit of 'Poles Apart'. The bass in this sounds oddly like 'Another Brick In The Wall' to me. Unusual exotic-sounding cello solo, and a bit of guitar on there too. Nice and ambient, but not too remarkable.

6. ‘Satellite’: Full-length instrumental, sounds more like something worthy of being called a composition than some of the other ambient instrumentals. If you’re looking for a classic Rick instrumental, this is the one.

7. ‘Woman of Custom’ (YouTube link): A song entirely by Anthony Moore. Naturally it doesn’t sound like a Wright composition, but it’s a good song nonetheless and makes for some variety amongst the other songs where the music is Rick’s. I like Rick’s vocals on this a lot, and it really sounds like Rick’s take on a pop song to me, though it’s quite quiet and peaceful. This one’s pretty coverable and memorable, and has grown on me a lot since I started to notice it for what it is. 8/10

“She never lived with pain, fear or anger
Windowless and tame like a precious stone langoured
A heart enchained, willing to surrender
But now if storms would only blow
Then she could really feel the roll
She could really feel the roll”

8. ‘Interlude’: Short ambient instrumental, classic piano sound on this one.

9. ‘Black Cloud’: Ambient instrumental to start the second half of the album, very synth-y. One of the better instrumentals on the album.

10. ‘Far From The Harbour Wall’: Here we go, another proper, full on song! Rick’s singing is quite emotive on this, it's quite dark, and I love how it builds in the final verse. Some interesting chromatic solo-y bits on keyboards, it’s very Rick. 8/10

“A part of herself, she thought love was dying
The game of opposites, a hateful lie
She can't hang on at all, she's giving up the fight
She's locked in a wall of ice
Through half the day and half the night
On a path that's been prescribed”

11. ‘Drowning’: Short instrumental, synth-y.

12. ‘Reaching For The Rail’: Aha! We get Sinead O’Connor’s first vocals on the album: this one is from the woman’s perspective, with Rick giving his onlooker’s perspective in the fourth verse before Sinead finishes the song with another verse. Her vocals are almost whispered and very effective, while Rick sounds anguished in his own way. Lyrics are very much about dealing with depression, and I think it’s both musically and lyrically excellent. Very melancholy, but very emotive. Piano solo in the middle, complete with crowd noise, is a very nice touch. Short guitar solo too, fits the vibe nicely. Ambient thing tacked onto the end, presumably to keep to the four-tracks-per-part rule, which sounds a bit like the ambient synth bit in One Of My Turns. Who knew Rick had such fond memories of The Wall? 9/10

(Rick’s verse)

“You took a look inside, how could you peel away
Or break the shell, the hurt you've hidden so well, for all your days
And you're going down
As you slip beneath the waves
Won't make a sound
Won't even leave a trace before you”

(VERY annoying that I can't link this one, as it's the joint-best song on the album! Here's a tribute band covering it... Pretty sure they get a few chords wrong but it's not bad!)

13. ‘Blue Room in Venice’: The other almost-instrumental with lyrics by the mysterious Gerry Gordon. Even though it’s the start of part four, I think it follows on from ‘Rail’ quite well, as it shifts back to Rick’s perspective as the sympathetic onlooker, but in introspective monologue this time. Short and sweet. I do wonder what the title is referring to. 7/10

“Your sacrifice that meant so much
Left us with no place to stand
Please let me touch, and let me near
Let me near”

14. ‘Sweet July’: Instrumental. We’re still feeling a bit blue, but the guitar-y bits on top of the waves of synth chords have energy in them, so it doesn’t feel too melancholic. You could fit this one on The Endless River without changing too much of it.

15. ‘Along the Shoreline’: I always forget about this one, but it’s actually a good song. This one has a positive vibe to it, it’s quite hopeful-sounding (finally). We get some rhythm and tension again too, there’s more energy in this one. Not too keen on the processing on Rick’s vocal part, but this one’s alright. Good, memorable guitar solo, too. 7/10

“You feel her warmth, feel it like solar rays
See how, they kindle fire, illuminate her face
Free as the sunlight, that shines down from above
That opens us all, to feel love”

16. ‘Breakthrough’ (YouTube link): This one’ll be familiar to anyone who’s seen the 2002 live performance in the Albert Hall from David Gilmour in Concert with Rick on vocals and Gilmour on guitar – and if you haven’t seen that, you should! Sinead on vocals again on the album version though, and it’s the resolution; she’s broken free and learned to come to terms with the childhood trauma that’s haunted her for so long. An early version of this apparently had a Gilmour guitar solo on it, so if this album ever gets re-released I hope there’s at least a demo of that. Really nice song, and goes to show that Anthony and Rick made a great (if short-lived) team. They really should have gotten on with another album. 9/10

“I bet you can conceal it, but that's just a dead-end track
I'll cover you like the driven snow, then I'll bring you back
You'll see, you’ll feel like, you’ll feel like a banner
Unfurled and gently blown
And there before your opening eyes
The self you've never known”

Overall, this is a really good album, and definitely one of the best Floyd solo albums. I think Rick really got back into singing as a result of making this, and I don’t think either his live performances of 'Breakthrough' in 2002 or 'Wearing The Inside Out' (finally!) in 2006 would have happened if not for 'Broken China'. He even considered touring this album, but sadly decided it was financially non-viable (what a fantastic alternate universe that must be… what I’d give for a live album version of this!). I should also mention that I really like Storm Thorgerson’s iconic album art, as ever, and the booklet with the lyrics in has more beautiful art by him that continues the theme of the cover art. You can see some of it in the EPK from the time. I’d give this album a solid 8/10; slightly too many filler ambient tracks maybe, but they’re all short and fit the album perfectly well; the best songs are also unusually concentrated near the end, so if you do give this a listen make sure you don’t give up too early! (or just listen to ‘Reaching For The Rail’ & 'Breakthrough' if you’ve no time for concept albums…)

What do you all think of this album? Personally I've never gotten into Wet Dream at all, which is odd considering how much I like this one!