John Frusciante, ‘Walls and Doors’ – Song Review

What has John Frusciante been up to since announcing his departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009? It wasn't long ago that his frequent collaborator, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the Mars Volta, said that Frusciante is "in a different place right now" and is "living by different standards with a different philosophy, so he doesn’t want to be a part of anything that he knows is going to end up being a product." In other words, Rodriguez-Lopez insisted, Frusciante had no desire to release music of any form in the near future.

Turns out, Omar was wrong. Not long after that, Frusciante himself announced plans to issue an EP titled 'Letur-Lefr,' which recently dropped, and which will be followed by a full-length solo album, 'PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone,' due later this year. A preview of the disc in the form of a free download of the track 'Walls and Doors' currently is available, and if the tune is any indication of what to expect from 'PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone,' things are about to get pretty damn weird.

"This song, recorded in September 2010, marks the point at which I began combining '60s and early '70s production styles with modern electronic production styles," Frusciante reveals in an online post. "This song was also the first time I successfully balanced pop music with abstract forms of music. This song showed me that the pop parts of myself and the more adventurous parts of myself could blend without one compromising the scope of the other."

The result is one of the most schizophrenic recordings ever to arrive in the guitarist's consistently challenging and sometimes bizarre solo career. His 1994 solo debut, 'Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt,' which he recorded in the throes of heroin addiction, combined avant-garde and stream-of-consciousness musical styles, and rarely has he returned to standard rock fare.

That said, whatever you think of 'Walls and Doors,' it does showcase the work of an incredibly imaginative and skilled composer, and it's certainly unlike anything you've ever heard or will likely ever hear again. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Get John Frusciante's 'Walls and Doors'