♫ Spiral ♫ contains eight of Allison Crowe’s original songs, ranging from the tender and playful country/roots of “Dearly”, to the upbeat pop of “Double-Edged Swords”, ’cross the loving “Oceans”, and darker terrain of “I Don’t Know” and the hard rocking title track. Raw, natural, emotion is embraced passionately with elegiac beauty and melody in these, and such joy-filled tunes as “Going Home Tonight” and “No Matter the Battle”. With the live track, “Wake Up”, Crowe, again, renders the personal universal, and the global, human.
Uniquely known not just as one of the most exciting songwriters of a new generation, Crowe is also one of our finest interpreters of popular song. Spiral’s mix of light and shadow includes a trio of fresh covers –
revisiting music of Annie Lennox (“Why”), Leonard Cohen (“Chelsea Hotel No. 2”), and Hunters and Collectors’ Antipodean anthem, “Throw Your Arms Around Me”.
On this new song collection, the bi-coastal Canadian, (she calls Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Nanaimo, British Columbia, home), is joined by ideally-skilled and sympathetic west-coast musicians Billie Rocha-Woods (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Dave Baird (bass, backing vocals), Laurent Boucher (percussion), Brendan Millbank (cello) and Larry Anschell (electric guitar, and, also, Engineer/Producer at Turtle Studios in White Rock, B.C.)
Kayla Schmah, Los Angeles-based, Canadian-born, composer and film scorer, orchestrates and produces the album with, yes, "gorgeous" musical textures, and cinematic ideas artfully brought to life. Concert capturings by Engineers B.R.N. (aka Condor) and John MacMillan complete this diverse mix of music made in Corner Brook, Nanaimo, as well as Chilliwack, White Rock, Denman Island and Salt Spring Island, Canada, Vienna, Austria, and Hollywood, USA.
The visual art of Spiral matches its aural beauty - with cover paintings by Netherlands-based Tara Thelen, photographs by Canada's Billie Rocha-Woods, and California's Dan Goldwasser, fontage from Brazil’s Billy Argel and graphic design by Florida's Alix Whitmire.
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Lights out… for this motion picture music mash-up – Allison Crowe’s “I Don’t Know” haunts the original cinematic interpretation of Gaston Leroux’s gothic novel, “The Phantom of the Opera”.
Music captured live by Audio Archivist John MacMillan, Denman Island, BC, Canada. String arrangement and production comes from Kayla Schmah, in Hollywood, USA. It’s first released on the album, ‘Spiral’.
Footage, like some spectral documentary, is from the unrestored version of the 1925 film - which features the genius of Lon Chaney as The Phantom.
lyrics
I Don't Know
Words & Music by Allison Crowe
I don’t know how to deal with this
So maybe I’ll just descend into madness
Looking out of the corner of my eye
Maybe I’ll just run away
If I can’t think of anything nice to say, to save my life,
before we all fly away
And I’d like to think I did something worthwhile
And I don’t know what is wrong with everyone
I guess, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me
And I won’t try to be judgemental
I won’t try to be holier than thou
But I don’t get this and I am not going to pretend I do
I’m tired of watching so many people
Systematically destroy themselves
Go ahead, this one is on me
I think we’re all hiding from an invisible monster
Some part of ourselves
We don’t want anyone to see
I’d like to think this did something worthwhile
Besides
Killing everyone I know
I don’t know what is wrong with everyone
I guess, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me
And I won’t try to be judgemental
I won’t try to be holier than thou
I don’t get this
And I am not going to pretend I do
And I’d like to think this did anything at all
But, I think I know better by now
I don’t know what is wrong with everyone
And I guess, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me
And I won’t try to be judgemental
I won’t try to be holier than thou
But, I don’t get this, I don’t get this
I don’t get this
I don’t know what is wrong with everyone
But, I guess, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me
And I won’t try to be judgemental
I won’t try to be holier than thou
I don’t get this and I am not going to pretend I do
'cause I do...
‘cause maybe I understand too well
credits
from Spiral,
released March 17, 2010
Allison Crowe - voice, piano
John MacMillan - engineer
Kayla Schmah - orchestrator, string arranger, producer
Another great album by Hungry Lucy. A very gothic feel to some of the songs. 'Cover Me' is the stand out track for me but they are all good. Russell Whyman
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