It took me a while to actually put the feelings from Twilight into words, because all I was driven by at first was pure emotion that couldn’t really be put into words. That’s when I know I have a jewel in my hand. I had no desire to sit at a keyboard or even pick up a pen. Floating in the ocean of orchestration, gliding on the wings of a stingray, and seeing nothing but blue was all I could do.
Even the intro to “A Song About Bird” has an aquatic feel, like you’re taking a voyage underwater with Jacque Cousteau, while electric eels tease you at the window of your deep-sea vehicle. Then the dream changes and the vocals are large enough to fill an ancient cathedral, and with the acoustics you can also hear every whisper. Of the four members of this Denver band, Randall Frazier, Matthew Mensch, Micheal Morris and Jeff Morris (I’m guessing their related, but in what way I’m not sure), it’s not evident who does what. While the sonex (their term for collaboration) of their music takes experimentation to a controlled chaos state of mind and sound, the singer (whichever one he is) is just as intriguing, like he’s peering out the window of snow covered cabin as the ice is beginning to melt and signs of spring are vaguely apparent. . .pleading desperation that’s powered by resilience.
The last track “Down Again” takes me back to Cure’s The Prayer Tour, where I was held in a trance while the songs from Disintegration, songs I had played so many times to get over a lost love, were now right in front of me.
The use of a simple tribal drumbeat on this song, a dragging shoe slide on others, and even a military strum on some definitely impacted the alluring mood on Twilight. The pristine sound quality of the CD was made possible mastered by Grammy Award winning engineer Matt Sandoski at the Airshow Mastering Studios in Boulder.
In the last year, the musicianship from so many Colorado bands has surfaced, and thankfully, they’re spending the time, money, sweat and tears to take it from the studio to our ears. This Saturday at the Mercury Lounge, Orbit Service celebrate the release of Twilight, along with George & Caplin and The Very Hush Hush. They also plan to have visual atmosphere provided by Tempus Terram.
“. . .time is money/minutes, dollars, days/the prospects of the future have got me running/I am a rat, this is my maze.” In the lyrics of Mr. Randall, let’s take some time from rat race and turn off thoughts of the future, if only for an evening or the 45 or so minutes to experience Twilight.
