Ken Fury
Flowers Fall Asleep
(Inerus Music)

Some crunchy back beat and loud cymbal programming provide the bed of “Beside Her,” the opening song of Ken Fury’s Flowers Fall Sleep. Dancer/artisan/writer/producer/programmer/instrumentalist Fury basically built his home studio then unleashed this mélange of his heart laid bare. Though not an easy listen, this is an important album to be sure.

“Casted Tear” has a lazy, but effective beat countered by “Empty Spaces’” kinetic one. And all along that low, whispery, at times Bowie-like, at times Morrison, at times Iggy vocal of Fury spits and sometimes growls out lyrics about memory, love and struggle.

Songs like “Still” and the ender “Higher” (this one being the most commercial tune of them all) are where I think the full “Flowers” experience is realized. But there’s something to be said for Fury’s minimalist metallic stance overall. “Stained Pride,” one of my favorites, with its whip crack beat, reminds me of U2 during their lemon period, while the instrumental, “Force” (another fave), with its crunchy slip and slide and well-placed plinks of simple musical color prove Fury knows well how to produce himself. In fact, I’d venture to opine that even though Flowers Fall  Asleep should be listened to in its entirety (and in the running order of the songs as they are presented), Fury knows enough to have fashioned each tune as a good, solid listen onto itself, to be enjoyed as much enjoyed in the totality of this debut as well as simply as single tracks.