Jem Godfrey Discusses "Life in the Wires"
The first Frost* concept album is sure to please the band's longtime fans.
Thank you for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. This little newsletter returns from a three-part travelogue to bring more traditional music news and reviews, and I couldn’t be more excited than to share my thoughts on the upcoming double concept album from Frost* after speaking with founder Jem Godfrey.
Let’s jump right into that story.
Frost* took the progressive rock world by storm nearly 20 years ago with the release of debut album Milliontown. The band boasted an unusual lineup, comprised mainly of prog rock ringers as a bit of a “supergroup.” Members of IQ, Arena, and Kino were attached to the project by founder Jem Godfrey, who was better known in British pop music circles than prog after topping the charts with his writing and production work with the likes of Atomic Kitten, Holly Valance, and The X-Factor winner Shayne Ward.
Milliontown was a godsend to prog rock music in the mid-2000s. Rather than trying to copy the sounds of the usual classic bands like Yes, Genesis, and ELP, Frost* music featured complex and challenging compositions recorded with a fresh, modern, and multi-layered production style. Although keyboard heavy, Frost* didn’t sound like other prog bands, likely owing a great deal to Godfrey’s love of synth pop while growing up, when he quickly gravitated to singles like “Messages” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and “I Just Can’t Get Enough” by Depeche Mode — not your typical prog rock influences.
The Frost* debut was named to many best-of lists for the calendar year it was released. Milliontown was definitely on my own list that year.
The album was so well received by progressive rock fans that it created quite a commotion when Godfrey announced that Frost* was one-and-done after its Milliontown tour. He cited professional and personal commitments that would prevent him from continuing the band.
But the death of Frost* didn’t take. Godfrey announced on his blog in 2007 that he was writing new material, and he reformed the band, adding guitarist/vocalist Declan Burke from Darwin’s Radio to the already formidable lineup for what became the second Frost* album, 2008’s Experiments in Mass Appeal.
“If I could have my time again, I would sit myself down and say, ‘You know, calm down a bit. It's all right,’” Godfrey said of breaking up Frost* after Milliontown. “I couldn't see a way of finding the time to do a second Frost* album. But what I should just have said is, ‘I haven't got time at the moment,’ you know, but it would be better rather than doing, ‘Well, that’s it. We’re all done. It’s all finished.’ So that was a mistake. There just wasn’t time, and then suddenly I was, ‘I’ll do a new one. God, it’s been eight years.’ So, yeah, everyone’s been very patient and very sort of forgiving of my behavior.”
The on-again, off-again band continued as time permitted, with Frost* eventually releasing Falling Satellites in 2016 and Day and Age in 2021. Burke had departed, Nathan King had replaced former IQ/Jadis/Ark/Arena bassist John Jowitt, and Steven Wilson/Steve Hackett drummer Craig Blundell stepped into the shoes of IQ stick man Andy Edwards. Aside from Godfrey, the only constant in Frost* has been Lonely Robot/Arena/It Bites/Kino guitarist and vocalist John Mitchell.
Frost* is set to release its fifth studio album, Life in the Wires, on Oct. 18 on Inside Out Music and it’s sure to create a Milliontown-esque buzz in the progressive rock community. Not only is it the first Frost* double concept album, but the songs channel the spirit and energy of the band’s well-received debut record.
The current Frost* lineup features Mitchell on guitars, King on bass, Blundell on drums, and Godfrey doing pretty much everything else as well as producing. Godfrey takes center stage as the vocalist throughout.
The album concept picks up where 2021’s Day and Age left off, with a voice in the ether. That voice, which was quickly cut off at the end of the song “Repeat to Fade,” is that of “Livewire,” sort of a mythical DJ-type, whose voice is heard by the Life in the Wires protagonist, Naio. The story exists in a world dominated by artificial intelligence, with Naio seeking out Livewire.
“The lyrics he’d (Mitchell) written for some of the tracks — he has very lovely, descriptive lyrics. I can kind of see the worlds that he sort of creates with some of the imagery that he uses,” Godfrey said. “And in my head, for some reason, I just started to build this sort of world up, you know, this Day and Age world. And sort of in my head, all the songs on that album, although they’re not connected or anything, it felt like it was all set in the same universe, the same place, and all these characters are just on that world, the sort of Day and Age world. I don’t know why I thought that, but it’s just in my head. It seemed like it was a closed system, but all these things happening on it.
“I sort of had this idea, because I used to be a big fan of Grand Theft Auto, the game, as a kid. You’re driving around. You beat some people up. You drive over there, nick a car, you know. I loved all that. But what I liked was the fact that you could do whatever you want. You could think, ‘Right, I’m going to go on the bridge and go over to the other city, or I’m going to go over there.’ And it was that sense you could do whatever you want, but I kind of had the feeling that everything was happening at the same time, like in a real city. So, with Life in the Wires, I thought, ‘What if the events that happen on this album take place on that Day and Age world still?’ The Life in the Wires story is actually happening over there at the same time.”
Naio hears Livewire’s voice on an old radio that he received from his mother and decides to seek out the voice that he hears (“Evaporator”). Meanwhile, the “All Seeing Eye” of the album’s AI-driven society stands in the way of independent thought such as Naio’s pursuits (“Propergander”). As the story progresses, we hear more bits of Livewire’s broadcasts between songs.
Sonically, it’s the most Milliontown-y album since Milliontown, but there are referenes to other Frost* albums as well. In the past, Frost* has always been reactionary with each new album, opting to zag after every zig and not repeat the same exact sound or formula. But 20 years after Godfrey started writing an extended piano piece that ended up becoming “Hyperventilate” on the debut album, he was willing to let a little nostalgia creep in for Life in the Wires.
“We sort of had this unsung kind of rule that every album we do, the next one is sort of opposite of that previous album, and it kind of keeps us going. It’s interesting to do that,” he said. “As I was writing (the new album), there were some bits when I was thinking, ‘This sounds a bit like Milliontown. This sounds a bit like ‘Hyperventilate.’ And I kind of thought there’s nothing wrong with that, because it’s kind of who I am and it’s how I write as a musician in that default state. We always try to do the thing that people least expect, and I thought the thing that people really wouldn’t expect is if we went back and did something that sounded like something we’ve done before. And once that started to happen, I started to think, ‘Why not reference them all?’”
Godfrey said he conceived the album intentionally as four separate vinyl sides of around 21 minutes apiece, which is about the maximum amount of time for optimal audio quality. The Life in the Wires tracks flow brilliantly, interwoven with the Livewire bits, and the band has customized a unique experience for the album based on the format the listener is using, so there are slightly different versions for the digital, vinyl, and CD releases.
The album launch also includes an interesting micro-website, lifeinthewires.com. The site includes plenty of audio, including some unique input from Livewire.
“We tucked a few little Easter eggs in there and just had some fun with it,” Godfrey said.
After spending a couple of weeks with Life in the Wires, I find myself gravitating most often toward the opening suite of “Skywaving,” “Life in the Wires, Pt. 1,” “This House of Winter,” and “The Solid State Orchestra.” However, the epic “Life in the Wires, Pt. 2” contains some juicy nostalgia for longtime Frost* fans and it’s the standout piece for me from the second half of the album. “Starting Fires” is also exceptional.
The record company has chosen “Life in the Wires, Pt. 1,” the eight-minute mini epic “Moral and Consequence,” and “Idiot Box” as the first three pre-release singles.
Godfrey composed the music and wrote the lyrics for all but two songs, which he co-wrote with Mitchell.
Life in the Wires is quickly becoming my favorite Frost* album since Milliontown, and it should reel back in those who enjoyed the debut album but weren’t as enamored with Experiments in Mass Appeal. The band’s four members shine sonically and get to show their chops without sacrificing melody or hooks. The story is engaging and interesting, and it would be great if the band had a novelization written as a companion piece.
What does Godfrey want listeners to take away from experiencing Life in the Wires?
“I hope that they feel reassured that humanity is going to be all right,” he said. “First and foremost, I want it to be entertaining. I don’t want it to be like (Pink Floyd’s) The Wall, where it’s a great album but I can’t listen to that in (one listen). I think maybe a little bit of nostalgia might be nice about when life wasn’t quite so strange and complicated, and yeah, you know, just a kind of sense of it’s OK not to be on TikTok all the time. And there are other life forms and life styles out there.”
There are no plans at the moment for live dates to support the album, but Godfrey said he would like to tour the album and play it in its entirety. That would obviously mean sacrificing some previous Frost* favorites from the setlist, but touring a concept album usually means presenting it as a single piece of music.
Life in the Wires will be available as a 2-disc CD set, a 2-LP album on 180-gram vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, and a digital release. Be advised that each of the different formats has subtle differences from the others to optimize them for listeners using the given format.
Learn more about the band at the official Frost* website or catch them on Twitter and Instagram at @Here_Be_Frost.
Tracklist (LP format):
Side A
1. Skywaving (1:58)
2. Life in the Wires, Pt. 1 (5:29)
3. This House of Winter (6:09)
4. The Solid State Orchestra (6:38)
Side B
1. Evaporator (8:07)
2. Strange World (5:09)
3. Idiot Box (4:49)
4. Absent Friends (3:58)
Side C
1. School (Introducing the All Seeing Eye) (3:11)
2. Propergander (5:34)
3. Sign of Life (5:43)
4. Moral and Consequence (8:13)
Side D
1. Life in the Wires, Pt. 2 (15:51)
2. Starting Fires (4:44)
Tracklist (CD format):
Disc 1
1. Skywaving (1:58)
2. Life in the Wires, Pt. 1 (5:29)
3. This House of Winter (6:09)
4. The Solid State Orchestra (6:38)
5. Evaporator (8:07)
6. Strange World (5:09)
7. Idiot Box (4:59)
8. Absent Friends (3:58)
Disc 2
1. School (Introducing the All Seeing Eye) (3:11)
2. Propergander (5:34)
3. Sign of Life (5:43)
4. Moral and Consequence (8:13)
5. Life in the Wires, Pt. 2 (15:51)
6. Starting Fires (4:44)
For my full interview with Jem Godfrey, check out the embedded video below or download/stream Episode 137 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast. In addition to the new album, Jem discussed his musical beginnings, playing keyboards for the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, producing smash hits for the likes of Atomic Kitten, scratching his progressive rock itch, the disbanding/relaunching of Frost*, and more.
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