BRYAN FERRY “Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023”

ARTIST

Bryan Ferry

ALBUM TITLE

“Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023”

LABEL

BMG

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A portrait of the artist with a cigarette in his hand. Politically incorrect in today’s world, intoxicated as it is by hypocrisy and so-called woke culture – but entirely fitting for Bryan Ferry, who celebrates his enviable half-century career with the sumptuous and highly enjoyable box set Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973–2023. The collection gathers classics recorded for Island Records, Polydor, Virgin, E.G. Records, and BMG. It includes five CDs with 81 tracks, two of them previously unreleased, along with a lavish 100-page book of liner notes, photographs, and rare archival images. In parallel with the deluxe edition, a 20-track compilation is being released as a double LP or single CD, offering a more concise journey back to the glory days of the 1970s.

In the early era of Roxy Music – one of the defining bands of the glam scene – the creative reins were shared between two artists with nearly identical names: frontman Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno. Eno, a brilliant sonic manipulator, worked largely behind the scenes, inventing the sound of the future. Once the ambient pioneer departed, the Y chromosome prevailed. After Roxy Music dissolved, Ferry continued alone, fashioning himself into the refined, seductive voice of the British scene. A figure who balanced visual arts, rock, pop, fashion, and glamour, he embodied what Carlo Maria Cella once aptly called “sexy with brains.”

In the streamlined version of Retrospective, it is the crooner above all who emerges – playing hide-and-seek with nostalgia, vintage charm, and an irresistible attraction to the retro. Alongside timeless hits such as Slave to Love and Let’s Stick Together, and his elegant reinterpretations of Bob Dylan, Ferry devotes ample space to evergreen standards. These Foolish Things, from his 1973 solo debut of the same name, and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, featured on 1974’s Another Time, Another Place, return with undiminished allure. Also present are As Time Goes By – from his 1999 homage to the 1920s and ’30s – and the electro-pop revival of Love Letters (with a knowing nod to Julie London).

In short, everyone has their own mental Viagra. For Bryan Ferry, it is – and always has been – jazz.

—Ivo Franchi

DISTRIBUTED BY

Universal

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