The Welsh dragon of avant-garde is back, this time armed with beaucoup des synths, keyboards, pianos, and more. It's Cale's second album in just under a year, and he's clearly brimming with ideas and inspiration, and seething with anger. Who can blame him? At 82, he's allowed to be a curmudgeon, and if he's going to channel that energy into some of the most exciting music you'll hear in 2024, we're delighted he's in a mood! - Flying Out

Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album Mercy. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all Mercy II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.

And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as 60Cale always has.

Tracklist:

1. God Made Me Do It (don't ask me again)
2. Davies and Wales
3. Calling You Out
4. Edge of Reason
5. I'm Angry
6. How We See The Light
7. Company Commander
8. Setting Fires
9. Shark-Shark (Vinyl Mix)
10. Funkball the Brewster
11. Laughing In My Sleep
12. There Will Be No River

JOHN CALE