Published on Aug 6, 2003
Sometimes things get weird in the synchronicity department.
Within a few months of Mary Fahl’s debut CD (reviewed previously
here on the DV), most of the remaining members of October Project
(who had been playing gigs and putting out one EP last year) took a
shot at regaining their own magic with their first
mostly-full-sized release since 1995. Today’s review takes a look
at October Project’s 2003 release
Different Eyes.
The core of October Project 2.0 is Emil Adler, Julie Flanders,
and Marina Belica — the original three members of October Project.
Adler was the primary keyboard player and music writer for the
band’s ’90s releases, Flanders was the primary lyricist, and Belica
provided keyboards and vocals. Not surprisingly, the strength of
the band is elegant, spare, lovely songwriting; heartbreaking and
clever turns of phrase delivered in Belica’s precise phrasing.
Interestingly enough, the songs here are older; none are newer than
1995, and as the CD’s title says, the band has returned to look at
them with “different eyes”.
The production and engineering of the CD is good; longtime fans
of the band will find the sound on
Different Eyes a bit spare, however, as if there was a layer
or two of the textured sound missing. While I think that’s
partially the mix, mostly it seems to be the reality of trying to
reform a band and record again without big-label backing.
Nevertheless, there are some musical high points; the guitar intro
on “See With Different Eyes” is astonishingly good, even though I
can’t tell if it’s actually a fingerstyle acoustic guitar or a
keyboard sample (there is no guitarist credited on the CD).The rich
orchestral-style vocals of “If I Turn Away” are also very, very
good, and set the tone for the song very well. Special kudos have
to go to the jazz stylings of “Forget You”; this is a very, very
different sound for OP, and it works really well.
In a final analysis, you do miss the sense of depth and richness
from previous OP recordings. Part of what made October Project was
the interplay of Marina Belica and Mary Fahl’s vocals; while Julie
Flanders provides competent backing vocals, it’s just not quite the
same. I also confess to missing Urbano Sanchez’ acute sense of
percussion. The band committed to recording this CD in a home
studio, and therefore used only what resources they had available
in that home studio — but there are occasional moments where
Different Eyes could have done with more real instruments
and less keyboard patches.
Nevertheless, this is a very good CD, and bodes well for future
projects. The band has immediate plans to begin recording a
full-length CD (
Different Eyes checks in at just over 23 minutes), probably
with the participation of Sanchez and OP’s guitarist Dave Sabatino.
That is something to definitely look forward to. If
Different Eyes is the appetizer, I suspect the entrée
will be very, very good indeed.
For more information and to obtain Different Eyes,
check October Project’s
website.