Published on Jan 25, 1999
Today on “The Daily Vault”: A Recipe For Disaster.
Take a band whose sound is unquantifiable, a band so complex
that on their first CD a member was credited as ‘Lyricist’…and
nothing else. Add a lead singer whose voice is hauntingly lovely
but odd, music with a deeply spiritual theme, a string section, and
a distinctly un-MTV physical presence. Add a major record company
with no idea how to promote them. Wait for the explosions.
October Project’s three-year recording career was marked by
three things: brilliant recordings, fanatical fans, and recording
industry incompetence. Despite a self-titled debut CD selling over
200,000 copies and tours with Crash Test Dummies and Sarah
McLachlan, Sony/Epic dropped them after sales of their second CD,
Falling Further In, proved disappointing. Soon after, the
band disbanded, perhaps disheartened at their brush with corporate
music clones.
Their sound was in many ways unique, although comparisons were
made to Clannad, Enya, and Renaissance. It’s hard to make a
distinction in quality between their two CDs, but I think that
October Project was just a bit more even and smooth. The CD
hooks you with the crystalline piano of “Bury My Lovely,” and then
Mary Fahl’s voice kicks in.
Fahl is gifted with a unique voice, deep, rich, and velvety;
like an ornate dessert, it’s almost too rich at the first bite, but
it smooths into sheer bliss as you continue to listen. It’s not the
ethereal tinkliness of Enya or Loreena McKinnett, which is what one
expects from the melody lines; it’s almost earthy in its solidity,
and marvelously versatile. The CD is in many ways built around it;
Fahl is defiant on “Ariel,” wistful on “Where You Are,” mysterious
on “Now I Lay Me Down,” and at the end powerful and triumphant on
“Be My Hero.” And if Fahl’s not enough, the group’s -second-
vocalist, Marina Belica, has a expressive soprano that perfectly
counters Fahl’s earth-goddess alto.
However, if I had to spend the rest of my life listening to
three tracks off one CD, it would be tracks six, seven, and eight
off
October Project. “Return To Me,””Wall Of Silence,” and “Take
Me As I Am” are quite possibly three of the most magnificent songs
I’ve ever heard with a female vocalist, and that includes a good
deal of my favorite music. The harmonies Fahl and Belica weave are
transcendant, the instrumentation perfect, and the emotional
extremes of beseechment, bitterness, and acceptance run you through
a musical wringer, leaving you breathless with half a CD to go.
The fact that October Project couldn’t find a firm place to
stand on is a shame. We have only two CDs to document a band who
was a few years ahead of their time, and as far as I know there has
been no further work from the members. (Please, please, if anyone
knows otherwise,
email me care of the
Daily Vault!) This is another CD you probably didn’t buy, and
another one you should have.