Song: David Sylvian 'Silver Moon' (1986)

Here's a bit of buried treasure for you. I'm a pretty massive fan of Mr. Sylvian's music, most of the time, but I have yet to discover much affection for his record Gone to Earth. It swarms with unappealing qualities, particularly that pretentious sort of spiritualism which always makes me want to smack those afflicted by it upside the head in the hope that they'll come to their senses. It's not one of the triumphs of his career (unlike the absolutely perfect Secrets of the Beehive, of which I will write more at some point). Silver Moon, however, is a completely different sort of fish. This swooning little gem of a song seems completely at odds with the rest of the album; psuedo-Eastern mysticism gives way to lush romanticism, accompanied by a lithe, swaying beat unlike anything else on the record. The rich, silky warmth of many-layered instrumentation contrasts marvellously with the simple (and simply perfect) vocal, making for a deliriously lovely confection:

...Of course, having written all about why I can't stand Gone to Earth, I shall most likely listen to the whole record sixteen times in a row and end up falling in love with it after all, which is what always happens for me with Sylvian records. I didn't like Brilliant Trees at first either, and now I think it's, well, brilliant. Gone to Earth has got a lot going for it (like Steve Nye, for example - and Bill Nelson, Robert Fripp, & Richard Barbieri - and my favourite drummer of all time, Steve Jansen), so perhaps I ought to give it rather more of a chance.