The Sky Colony – In a Dream
John Apice
Posted On April 6, 2015
In the last few weeks I’ve had to dig myself out from under an avalanche of absolutely wonderful submissions. I continue to be amazed by the talent, variety and intensely fine diversified work that is being produced by people who are trying their best to impress the music industry with their message. An industry that is now filled with rich and creative people and those who try so hard and hope they can make a dent.
Some artists should not have to worry about luck – just opportunity. Yes, many artists I review are not mainstream. They are not the next Snoop Dog, Beyonce, Kanye West, Mumford and Sons, Taylor Swift or Sam Smith. But, that doesn’t mean they are not talented they are simply not in that rushing stream of hype and commercialism. They are in it for the music, for the songs and they are trying to matter in a different way. Their music is not toss away, not here today and gone tomorrow. They want their music to seep into your brain if you happen to discover them and find them – and be pleasantly surprised. There IS lots of music out there that has a melody, that has meaning, that is memorable and because they are not top 25 at the moment – they will become far more personal in your ears.
People have said to me, “but, I never heard of them.” And I grin because that band or artist that you haven’t heard of – well, their sold out in dozens of clubs, and they are working on their fourth album. That’s a success of some kind isn’t it? There are many, many artists like that here on No Depression. No Depression being a mine with such a rich variety of music and artists – that the reader must dig for and discover on their own. But when they happen to come across something that takes hold of them – that’s the motherlode. Artists like this have existed since the beginning of recorded music so I am not suggesting anything new. A miner of these types of music must be patient and most important of all – put in some time.
I mention artists and compare unknown artists to other artists in hopes that those musicians will be further explored. A connection made and a new discovery enlightening a listener to enjoy something far beyond what everyone else is listening to and believe is good. If a listener focuses solely to the top 50 – they are seeing the iceberg’s tip – and they know nothing of what lies beneath.
The Sky Colony is one such artist from the Pacific Northwest. Many albums I listen to have some wonderful tracks, and some mediocre ones – that’s to be expected. If not, that’s like expecting a sharp shooter to hit the bull’s-eye almost every time flawlessly and they don’t.
The Sky Colony has in their music little pieces of Lowen and Navarro, The October Project, Prayer Boat and going back to the dark ages – Pentangle, Fairport Convention, The Brothers Figaro, and The Proclaimers. Theirs is a music with pristine acoustic guitars, and carefully layered lyrics over luxuriant melodies. Even if they are not aware of some of their history, they are connected to it. They are not as eccentric as Pearls Before Swine, or have a vocalist with a strange tone like Tom Rapp who wrote wonderful melodies but had quite an unorthodox medieval feel to his lyrics.
The dual singing of Kyle Findley-Meier and Ben Meyer is at times dramatic and framed by the talented multi-instrumentalist Molly Hazel, who plays upright, electric and string bass, banjo and sings. Jeff Lacy plays drums and choir conducting. Ben Goe adds a cello and Brittany Ash provides additional vocal to “Time.”
There is a clarity to their presentation and each song is sculptured individually. Nothing sounds like something else on the album. One of the catchiest songs in this collection is “Followers.” The instruments are all recorded clear and distinctly that you can hear the interplay brilliantly. Molly’s little vocals just under the men’s vocals is like the frosting on a cake. Very Everly Brothers-like with a more mature tint. And the Everly Brothers I refer to are the serious Everly Brothers of the late 60’s where many of their tunes were astonishingly produced. “Lord of the Manor,” “Milk Train,” and “I Wonder If I Care as Much,” from their album “Roots.”
“Don’t Wait For Me,” features a single voice and when adding Molly’s voice – it’s poignant and reminiscent of a time when Aztec Two-Step produced songs like “Tonight I Wish I Was In Texas,” from “Days of Horses.” This is a wonderful song – the chiming Byrds-like guitars and perfect vocal inflections and then the banjo surfacing toward the end with its multiple notes adding flavor to an already infectious melody. This one goes on repeat.
Few albums have that rare quality where you can put it on and let it run through its menu from start to finish without becoming ear-bored. “Lost Relation,” has that folky shuffle with The Proclaimers drive. And while the song can stand alone with the male vocals — that little sprinkle of Molly’s vocals under the current elevates the song to a work of art. The song steams along nicely like an old train and then suddenly slows down with gentle acoustic guitar picking – a decorative touch. Harmonies are tight, and as they sing like a choir and the song picks up energy again like that train – it’s enough to send shivers down your spine and tap your toes even though you don’t know you’re even moving your feet.
What’s appealing here as well is the total lack of special effects and embellishment. It’s musicianship: human voices lending themselves to a carefully constructed superlative relationship between melody and emotion. That may be a mouthful, but this was not slapped together hastily – it’s arranged and thoughtful. “Gods,” has haunting cello strains surrounding crystal clear acoustics. You can hear the hands snake a tapered finger down the neck of the guitar. Even if you are not a fan of this kind of singing, the musicianship alone is worth the price of admission.
“Joben,” almost builds immediately vocally and the drums embellish the beautifully played guitars. As usual, the male vocals dominate until that faint sound of Molly’s sweet voice comes in right under the surface. The guitars play in a hypnotic style and before you know it your head is bopping back and forth like one of those little dogs from the 1960’s that bobbed their heads in the back window of a car. Towards the end a nice guitar lick is followed by the plucking of a friendly banjo.
Finally, “The Hills,” provides a more traditional Appalachian-styled lullaby vocal. An appropriate tying of loose ends to a collection of songs that can be easily appreciated by anyone who enjoys music with substance. This song has a powerful church-oriented choir conclusion that is illuminating. Quite an impressive effort.
Criticism? Yes, I guess I should be fair and offer some. The songs sound like they are really well-written and a lyric booklet would have helped a little although the majority are sung clearly. The CD package is a tri-fold and there was plenty of room for a booklet insert or a few stitched pages. Overall the CD art is representative of the eleven tracks to be found. So many artists include their lyrics in their work and the words are cliché and lame – like many lyrics. Few artists are actually poets. But, when songs are written this well, and sung with such a poetic edge – an artist like The Sky Colony should support their hard work and let the listeners sing along. Their songs are deserving – at least that’s what I could hear. However, the lyrics to their songs are posted on their website with samples of their songs from this album.
The collection was produced and arranged by The Sky Colony, Molly Hazel and Jeff Lacy. Songs were written by The Sky Colony even though some sound like they may have been around for a long time. That too, is a credit to their musical ability. Many, if they seep into the right ears, are also good enough to be covered by other artists of this genre. The cover art was produced by Max McNett and the photography by Lindsey Bowen unless noted. All contributors added to my finding an interesting package with lots of compelling music.
Photos in review: 1st – B&W – The Sky Colony with Molly Hazel live at The Green Frog; 2nd photo: Ben Meyer with hat & guitar; 3rd photo Kyle Findley-Meier with guitar & vest – all by Kenneth Kearney.
Website: http://www.theskycolonymusic.com/
Bandcamp: http://theskycolony.bandcamp.com/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSkyColony
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
