Bryan Ferry
Olympia - Astralwerks
FILTER Grade: 82%

Bryan Ferry has long been the sultriest of crooners and the most compelling of lyricists. There are smoke rings and cool passion to be found in every sway of his albums, whether he’s solo or with art-glam legends Roxy Music. After the husk of 2007’s Dylanesque’s tribute to the rustic bard, something suave and strange was in order. Ferry invited Roxy’s best producer and nearly all of that ensemble’s collaborators (including Brian Eno) to abet him in his most experimental deliriously Roxy-ish recordings in decades. Want brittle funk and swirling Euro-disco? There’s “BF Bass” and “You Can Dance,” as well as his teaming with Scissor Sisters on “Heartache by Numbers.” There’s glitchy-synth and askew beats through which a craggy Ferry tests an array of vocal tricks for maximum theatricality. But it’s the still and Satie-like ballad “Tender is the Night” where Ferry is best—naked, quavering and nerve-endingly alive. Good show, old chap.