Jason Priest : For Your Consideration

Jason Priest, the Brit Rock alter ego of electronic musician/composer Antoni Maiovvi, has returned for yet another chance at music redemption in the form of For Your Consideration. Jason Priest Is Missing was Priest’s comeback album after spending the 80s lost in pills, booze, and self doubt. Newly sober, Priest made good on the promise of a young 20 something singer/songwriter who got lost along the way.

On For Your Consideration Maiovvi’s Jason Priest hits the ground running with a sleek, seductive electro rock album that has elements of Berlin Trilogy Bowie, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and even touches of Mr. Trent Reznor. It all comes together in a tight, leather-clad package that while may sober, it leaves inhibitions at the door.

“Burn, Eton, Burn” is the opening salvo and feels as much a rallying cry as song number one. It pulsates light and life, encapsulating the little triumphs that add to something much bigger. Mid-80s Cure emanates, with even touches of The National. Priest’s tenor has the weight of a crooner like Matt Berninger. It’s a song the builds and builds, with a feeling that anything can be achieved with the heart of a dreamer. “R.S.V.P.” is a nasty little number, the spirit of Bowie wavering in the electro rhythm and vocal delivery. Priest sounds bright, concise, and out for blood. “My Name Is Priest” shimmers with a driving rhythm, euphoric synth melodies which counter the sort of hard won knowledge that “the pain never goes away it only fades/and trauma is never something we’ll escape“.

Elsewhere “Strangers” is synthetic bliss. Clamoring with an urgent electric rhythm and upbeat synth touches. It’s reminiscent of a New Order newly no longer Joy Division. A song of unrequited love and the dangers that sometimes carries. “Metaphorical Masks(Not Literal Ones)” is the Gothic ballad you didn’t know you needed, beautifully dark and hanging doomed romanticism in the air like smoke. “Distress” is heartbreaking and beautiful, swelling to a emotional crescendo that is more late-era Harry Nilsson than Peter Murphy.

It seems when Jason Priest puts his mind to it, he can surely get his act together. Sobriety suits him well, as For Your Consideration is the beginning of one hell of a winning streak.