WHISPERS INTHE SHADOW ‘The UrgencyOfNow’in 2018 sawyou taking another turn: more direct rock and more political themes. Did the reaction of the public fulfil your expectations? Just a few days ago, there was a review of ‘Gilding The Lily’ and the critique pointed out that ‘The Urgency Of Now’ is her favourite album.That happens a lot.When it first came out, I didn’t realize people liked it that much, or maybe it was a slowgrower.We were one of the first bands of our genre who went more political.It was about time.And it certainlywasn’t expected from us. It’s a good album. Especially lyric wise. It was written pretty fast. It’s an album driven by hate but equally so by hope. I think that’s why it resonates a bit more with people. Because its themes are more universal. On ‘Yesterday Is Forever’, the record from 2020, the music is more diverse than ever before, in my opinion. Even though you claim not to have started from an overarching theme this time, as you did on the last six albums, I can still see a subject connecting the songs: the relation between past, present and future. Do you agree? Yes, you might be right but that wasn’t planned. It was just something that happened.And I also agree that it’s our most diverse and kaleidoscopic album. I wanted to show the world and mostly myself that this band is still able to surprise and that we are not done yet. By all means I wanted to do the opposite of a nostalgic “back to the roots” record. Which is something most bands do around that point of their career. That doesn’t mean we will never ever record such a record though. I’m still very happy with that one. I consider it one of our best. By far actually. album is designed as a live set.My idea was to get away from the usual chronological playlists of such records and make it something else. Like a real album, actually. You also chose to make new recordings of the tracks on ‘Gilding The Lily’. Sometimes you just changed the vocals, sometimes you rerecorded the whole track.Whywas that? I wanted it to be coherent in terms of production and sound, so it was obvious we had to re-record the older songs. Also, I’m a way better singer now than I was when we started. So this was a good opportunity to set things straight. And I wanted to make it special, even with the older material. I wanted to do something new. A lot of songs are updated versions which represent the band in the here and now.Take a song like ‘Back To The Wound’ for example. My vocals now have a different attitude than on the original 10 years ago. That goes for most songs,actually.We also did a newvideo for ‘Back To The Wound’. It was interesting to create something visual for an almost 10-year-old song but somehow present it like it would have been on the last album. I’m not a conservative songwriter and I’m not interested in the status quo; I’m interested in progress. The new record –'Gilding The Lily. A Retrospective'– is a compilation that was made to celebrate 25 years of Whispers In The Shadow. How difficult was it to select the right songs for the album?What criteria did you use? It was very difficult indeed. If you have over a hundred songs to choose from, that’s not an easy task. My idea was to have at least one and maximum three tracks from each album.Of course, there are songs we had to include: the hits, so to speak but I also wanted to take the opportunity to dig out some deep cuts, songs that were slightly forgotten or didn’t get the attention they deserved when they first came out. 'Pillowcase' and 'Halous At Dawn' are such songs. Also, the www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 30 - Finally, when you look back upon these last 25 years… there have been a lot of changes in musical style, in content, also several line-up changes… but Whispers In The Shadow was always there. You always survived. What has made the longevity of the band and what is the one thing that the output of the band has in common, that defines Whispers In The Shadow? As long as I exist this band will most likely survive. It really is that simple.Of course, I have played with thoughts to call it a day from time to time but then I think again and realise it’s stupid. I mean, if I were to break up the band,wewould be back in a couple of years anyway and honestly, I really don’t want to become one of these bands you know.We are way too honest for that. Musically I think my voice is what defines the band. That’s what makes it Whispers In The Shadow. With all its pros and cons that is. I’m aware that I’m not a spot-on singer but it is my voice,it got better and it is the one constant.And spiritual wise I would say our consistency is to do what we think is best.We were not always right, by far not.But that was never the point. Create music I’d like to hear and maybe surprise me and our audience from time to time. In the end it comes down to that.That’s why we are still here. That and that feeling when you just played a really good concert. Which is about time again. There are some very interesting shows planned for 2022. Fingers crossed they will finally happen. Xavier KRUTH
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