Pablo's Eye—'all she wants grows blue' (1998)

In 1996/7, I collaborated with a Belgian collective of musicians called Pablo's Eye on an album entitled all she wants grows blue, for which I provided the texts. The album was conceived as an 'imaginary soundtrack' and was produced in the studio using dub techniques. The collective is based around sound artist / producer Axel Libeert and the voice of Marie Mandi.

'Conceptual and cinematic, all she wants grows blue is an extended narrative soundscape in which Marie Mandi voices texts by Richard Skinner that speak of travel, time, lost connections, late night cities and psychic absences: "Please don't run after things—let them seep in/Build yourself on white, silence and stillness." Full of existential ennui, the music cruises along minimally with guitar, drums and brooding synthesizer atmospherics—a hollow, clanging post-rock ambience over which Patrick Hanappier's violin wheels lazily.' The Wire

'A Belgian multimedia group whose album was recorded in Brussels, New York and London in order that it might reflect their multinational make-up. With its spoken-word vocals and air of studied cool, this does aspire to being something other than disposable pop, being hitched to the kind of languid, libidinous rhythmic sense that makes everything it touches seem interesting. Around these lithe rhythms, Richard Skinner's occasional narrative lyrics prove surprisingly compelling. As such, Pablo's Eye most clearly bring to mind the better mid-80s funk and dub-based innovators such as 23 Skidoo, Shriekback and Tackhead. Worth exploring.' The Sunday Times

'Pablo's Eye exist in an eerie, ethereal world, lit only by the flickering glow of cinema screens, echoing with the soundtracks of long forgotten films. all she wants grows blue takes the form of a musical travelogue, linked by random, spoken word passages written by British writer Richard Skinner. Themes and phrases are played out: tales of back-street doctors merge with pre-Christian anatomy; an illogical fear of shoelaces, a love of straight lines and a man's long-term stutter cured when he becomes a father. The trance-like result, often beautiful, sometimes disturbing, drifts in and out of consciousness.' The Lizard

You can read another review of the album and listen to a preview of the songs here.