Since the great return of the Smashing Pumpkins, the fan and the music lover are still hoping for a return to their roots. The double ''Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness'' shines in the firmament of accomplished albums on which time doesn't seem to do its work. Unfortunately, the albums have followed one another but have not been very exciting, and when in 2018 our man gathered his former partners around him, we were expecting something sumptuous. The reunion had resulted in a short EP called "Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun".
In a rather playful way, "Cyr" takes the opposite direction from his predecessor. The album contains 20 tracks for a duration of one hour and twelve minutes. Billy Corgan had originally submitted 35 songs to his colleagues. In a interview, he claimed to want to make a contemporary album and not a resurgence of his previous successes. These words are somewhat contradictory to the atmosphere of the album, which leans more towards new-wave and synthpop but follows the editorial line traced by his previous work. The sound of the synths architect the whole and envelops the tracks with a timeless melancholy, sometimes with a more tortured spirit ('Tyger Tyger'). The guitars, very set back, surprise by their ephemeral anger (on the metallic 'Purple Blood' or 'Wyttch' which evoke the glory days of the band). As such, the first track 'The Colour Of Love' gives us a detailed program of what will follow. 'Ramona' proves to be the most accomplished song with its moving vocals, acoustic guitar and haunted keyboards. Billy Corgan's tormented, whiny teenage vocals are recognizable in a thousand ways, and although they may be unbearable to some ears ('Save Your Tears' will satisfy grumpy people), they allow him to string on romantic-gothic-inspired black pearls ('Confessions Of A Dopamine Addict').
Unfortunately, except for the pieces mentioned above, few tracks come to warm us up. The main reason is the use of a formula worn down to the rope. Billy Corgan's vocals is omnipresent and often ruins musical expressions ('Birch Glove', 'Starrcraft', 'Haunted'). Of an average duration of three minutes, the songs follow one another with a dusty linearity, often brutally interrupted. The music often sounds like a soundtrack in the background, on which Billy expresses his inexorable desperation. It's as if Billy Corgan has found a music software program that give an 80's sound to his songs and on which he does karaoke.
New Smashing Pumpkins album and umpteenth disappointment. In the end, this album looks more like a solo project. Once pioneers, the Smashing Pumpkins seem to have had no choice but to adopt postures and copy ready-made formulas, even if it means losing their soul.