There you were in your garden
Your flowers grew too high
Now you're trapped
It's too late
No way out
No escape
Any way
Anywhere
There you were in a circle
The magic broke your spell
Now you're trapped
It's too late
No way out
No escape
Any way
Anywhere
Now you're trapped
It's too late
No way out
No escape
Any way
Anywhere
There you are in the picture
Just a world in a frame
Now you're trapped
It's too late
No way out
No escape
Any way
Anywhere
Now you're trapped
It's too late
No way out
No escape
Any way
Anywhere
Over 6 months into our NM track-tour and still going strong. After the "meat & potatoes" of 'Design' we are served the "caviar" of 'Traps'.
"There you were in your garden, your flowers grew too high".
What great lyrics, stunningly sung (double-vocals if I'm not mistaken). Embellished by music from heaven. So infectious that a 10 mile exclusion zone should be established. The CR78 in meltdown, sensational synths polish and already gleaming gem.
The treated vocals in the latter chorus add that NM quirkyness we all love.
The melodic synth middle-8 is Gates at his genius best. No metronomic beat here, proving that NM are no "one trick pony". Laid back, upbeat, synth pop, pure pop. They can reel it all off at will, to the highest quality imaginable.
'Traps'. 4 mins feel like 2. What a track. The 'Walter' of side 2.
Surely the next track will crumble into insignificance after such a precedence? Well, actually...
(Graham G)
I actually hated this one at first but revisited it later and absolutely love it now, that soundscape sound after 'any way, any where'... best track on the album.
I think the song is about being trapped in confined spaces. Each verse describes a different enclosed boundary. Maybe it is describing agoraphobia.
Trapped in a garden surrounded by tall flowers, trapped inside a magic circle, trapped inside a framed picture.
(Rich E)
I'm struggling somewhat to describe the opening (I'll not call it an intro). How about minimalist? We then discover this is another one of those percussion-less NM tracks. That's always a very good thing in my book, as not only is it quite a rare thing, but they always work so very well. The lack of a percussive beat serves to add distinction, and its role is taken more or less by the CR78 which occupies centre stage and is certainly 'on form'.
A rather sad mood prevails (not as direct as "Walter", but still moody), and there's undoubtedly a most appealing spaciousness and atmosphere to it. Structurally it's all top notch. And there's some really great keyboards here - at 3:23, those wonderful bell sounding synth notes sound almost like they are falling down a well! (It's one of my favourite NM moments).
In an age where 'lo-fi' 'music' is everywhere, tracks with sonic subtlety and clarity like this demonstrate just how much more advanced and superior this New Musik was to what has become the norm today.
There's those weird yet somehow perfect vocal treatments in places (the "This World Of Water" Harmonizer again?) But what of the lyrics?
Well I guess we are all trapped in life. In uncomfortable or undesirable situations we'd rather not be in. Some people are even trapped in lives they'd rather not be in. It's another classic Mansfield theme, wonderfully expressed.
95/100
(Richard M)