“POPtical Illusion radiates John Cale's peace with the past”
“John Cale is now 82, but his formidable work ethic shows no sign of slowing down. His second album inside a year again originates in the 80-song creative splurge he enjoyed during lockdown. If 2023’s Mercy seemed to rage against the dying of the light – revisiting a few ghosts from his past and settling a few scores along the way – Poptical Illusion positively embraces it. “Make it happen for you ”
“Six decades into his run, the avant-garde rocker had made an album full of fresh focus and urgency”
“To paraphrase dril, John Cale is mad. Absolutely do put in the newspaper that he gets mad on his 24th studio album, POPtical Illusion. The sound of it might suggest otherwise, especially when contrasted with last year’s Mercy; that record was rattled with anxiety, using thick blankets of ominous synth to evoke a claustrophobic and unsettling atmosphere that, when taken in tandem with the lyrics, w”
“The avant-garde songwriter and composer’s 18th studio album finds him still tricking audiences with pop songs whose lyrics hint at something much deeper and darker below the surface.”
