Upon cracking open The Levins’ (pronounced The LeVinns) new album Trust – their second — instantly caught me by surprise. Their title track kicks off the album and immediately I heard a delightful radiating tune with irrisitible glimmers of Richard and Linda Thompson.
Julia Bordenaro Levin has a wickedly good sound in her vocal. Possessing the same quality Linda Thompson consistently displayed throughout her career. I thought well, maybe only one track is going to be that rich and exciting.
However, this Congers, NY duo started to sing “I Am Here,” and they provided me with yet another delicious melody and showcase that reminded me of Canada’s respected McGarrigle Sisters. Is this going to be a motherlode? I had some good feelings about this album and kept my fingers crossed.
The songs straddle the fence of traditional but the approach is quite modern, fresh and inspiring — the way few other artists have. They seem to exude a soft nostalgia style. The songs are original but my ears were also treated to lyrical creativity and with their iridescent duets the voices of these two people were simply ideal together. The way they sing this wonderful song toward the end with overlapping vocals reminded me of the obscure but ingenious 1966 song by Lyme and Cybelle — “Follow Me.”
Cybelle being Violet Santangelo and Lyme being the now legendary late Warren Zevon. Lyme and Cybelle’s vocals on that tune were incredible and fiery. That same magic is in evidence and worked perfectly on The Levins’ “I Am Here.”
Ira Scott Levin begins the song “Lines In the Land,” with a gentle piano and Julia joins with a warm, sincere vocal. Lyrics are not cliché ridden whatsoever. The tune has clever lines like “traipsing the Michael-Mary, as the sky lanterns rise, in an arc aligned sign, over Glastonbury….” This is a brief step into the land of The Waterboys and Mike Scott. The drama is confined to the story-telling and the “instrument” that becomes the unified voices of Ira and Julia. The entire melody unfolds like a prayer. A fine example of the power of the human voice.
Julia opens “Stuck,” and the violins are Appalachian rich. The song’s power comes from the moment Ira sings. Julia frames the musical picture with her vocal beauty and never intrudes. Yet, again, their unified vocals are the focus. “In the heart of the city of Woe-Is Me,” is a line that jumped out. Maybe because I prefer lyrics that are poetic. For some, this song will have moments when it reminds one of the melody line in Santana’s “Winning,” – especially when they sing the lines: “So I climbed a ladder, and I scaled a wall, and I reached the top and I began to fall,” and again later in the song on different lines. But, it’s like a respectful hat-tip to a catchy melody-line and not a borrow, or a steal that should annoy any Santana aficionado. It is quite cool how they injected those catchy melody lines into an otherwise splendid song.
“God’s Spies,” is inspired by that legendary pop lyricist Shakespeare himself and with the music — quite captivating. This has been explored before by The Incredible String Band, Strawbs, Magna Carta and Dando Shaft decades ago when they picked at the bones of the old muse. This is all good though – because of all those bands The Levins seemed to have plugged into a clever marrying of Shakespearean words to a crazy catchy modern day melody. And they succeed – perhaps – where those other artists failed. It’s done light-hearted with no pretensions. Their approach has clarity.
The vocals intensify on the mid-tempo tune “Dream Unspoken.” This is where Julia sounds convincing as a Kirsty McColl-type vocalist joining the precise vocals of a duo such as Lowen and Navarro. This is good rousing number.
“Great Constellation,” may sound like a dip into some silly space tale with science fiction and a potential error by this duo. However, a reading of the lyric and the embrace of the powerful melody with their consistently impeccable vocals renders this nearly five minute song masterful. It has a Steppenwolf (the band) shake you until you understand the gravity of the situation message – as depicted in their classic political song “Monster.” Well, this is The Levins’ “Monster” and there’s no coincidence that the subtitle is “For Madmen Only,” (also a Steppenwolf, the band – song title). It has basis in Hermann Hess’s “Steppenwolf” – the novel. But, The Levins are not a hard rock band — what they are is a duo who knows how to arrange their music into quite an uplifting and stirring menagerie. A keeper and probably one of their most ambitious well-thought out songs in their catalog.
Spooky Indian Bansuri flute floats in and out of “Child In Space,” and this too – is not a fantasy trip. A lovely melody with accompaniment by astonishingly good musicians on varied instruments that are well recorded. Of course, the vocals of Ira and Julia Levin are magical and strong and I have said that. The lyrics tread closely to pretentious but they are not in any manner. They are expertly controlled closer to serious alternative-folk styling’s than progressive rock. Songs like these can be dangerous because what you believe is a song with a strong message can become preachy. This steers clear of any sugar coating and it’s not a sermon.
“Relief” is like a haunting interlude – short and sweet. Information I received stated that the song is a “deep beautiful hymn for those longing to forgive.” That sums it up.
The closing track “Laugh at Me,” is like clear cool water over rocks that have been smoothed over under the stream. Interlocking vocals – counter singing – these two sound like multiple vocals and the roots-oriented, world-music band performs in an airy and not over bearing manner. I can think of no one who writes tunes in this fashion. I’ve cited other artists who tread down these paths — but The Levins are originals. The lyrics have their own structure – not lyrics in the standard form or poetry in any particular tight measured meter. They are free flowing and once stitched to the notes they play – they take on a relaxing ambience. It’s almost as if they have created a new “classical” music – not stuffy, not in your face and not bombastic. It’s all tied up with a colorful ribbon and not a string. It all comes out sounding like good advice from someone who cares. The Levins – they sound like they care about what you will hear if they have their name on it.
This 12-track album was produced by The Levins – all the seasoned musicians with impressive resumes in their small circle performed admirably. The CD package was designed by Brody Lowe and it’s an attractive die-cut 4 panel with a lyric booklet. Criticism? Would have been nice to get a photo of The Levins in there with their musicians. Maybe next time. I’ll be patient. Until then, I have this CD on repeat.
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Photography Credits: Sepia image The Levins picked up from their website — No individual photographer cited.
Website: http://www.thelevinsmusic.com/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/thelevins
Bandcamp: http://thelevins.bandcamp.com/album/trust
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review / commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of No Depression. All photography is owned by the respective photographers and is their copyrighted image; credited where photographer’s name was known & being used here solely as reference and will be removed on request. YouTube images are standard YouTube license.
John Apice / No Depression / April 2015
