This has been a very difficult album
for me to review. I'm not what you would call an optimist, so
exposing myself to Delia's beautiful positivity required that I put
my own world view aside for long enough to really let her message
sink in. When Delia sings the words, let friendship ancient
hatreds reconcile, she doesn't just mean this in a poetic, we
should all get along, sort of way. She really believes it. She
lives it. These lyrical adaptations of the poetry of Tahirih, (and
Bahai) are more than a religious translation, for that would be only
the faded repetition of old doctrines. This album is the
continuation of a spirit of freedom and love that never really died.
Like all martyr's, Tahirih's death made her more powerful than her
enemies could ever imagine, and Delia's new stunningly creative album
makes Tahirih's poetry and message all the more engaging, transformed
by the musical innovations and exciting song writing skills of this
woman of the 21st Century.
Her voice makes my skin tingle, her
rhythms make my feet skip and while listening to the album one
evening as I did the dishes, I felt that I was hearing a whole new
kind of jazz: she tickles and slaps grooves on her cello like a beat
poet, she sings in a way that is unpredictable, yet comforting.
This album is a great leap forward from her 2012 debut (Hello, I
Like You), a statement which in no way diminishes her early
achievements, but rather I feel that the vast depth of this wonderful
musician's imagination is beginning to be revealed. She
simultaneously adheres to folk traditions and breaks from them. She
makes familiar instruments sound new and her voice (in my opinion),
which has always been the greatest feature of her music, has matured
and grown. She has spent years developing and training her voice and
instrumental skills and enriching what was already a magnificent
talent into something which now grants her a unique immortality among
singers.
But I don't want my review to be a call
and response, an opinion piece on someone else's life's work. I only
wish that you should listen for yourself. These melodies and
harmonies are the modern meeting point of a great and mature poetic
philosophy of love and Delia has applied herself willingly, she has
devoted her life to this message. She doesn't just sing this
philosophy, she lives it, and now that I have listened to this album
over and over again, that beauty has taken root in my own deeply
cynical mind and as this year's summer heat makes the country burn,
as our politicians dither on the doorstep of our mutual destruction,
these songs of Delia's sprout like flowers and make me consider that
the world has a future, and that we who listen, we who love, might
have a place in it too.
Point by point, note by note, I swoon
in the luxurious forgiveness and hope of this album.
I let the wind untie my tangled mind.
If I seem drunk, don't ask me why, just
listen to Delia's beautiful voice.
*
I should also make note of the other
musicians who played on this album, for their contributions are
neither subdued, nor insignificant. The supporting roles in any
music production are so much more than scenery, and on this album,
the percussion, drumming, bass, mandolin, fiddle and cello are at
times so vital to the life of the songs that I cannot imagine their
absence. It would be unjust of me to fail to mention by name the
cast of friends who contributed to this album.
Sound engineer: Andrew Clermont
Audio mastering: Adam Dempsey
Bass and percussion: Tim Bennett
Percussion: Craig Lauritsen
Cello: Rachel Johnston
Fiddle and mandolin: Andrew Clermont
Audio mastering: Adam Dempsey
Bass and percussion: Tim Bennett
Percussion: Craig Lauritsen
Cello: Rachel Johnston
Fiddle and mandolin: Andrew Clermont
To see their names in black and white
does not quite highlight the importance of their involvement, but it
is essential to understand that each of these individuals spent
countless hours working with Delia, believing in her work, meeting
her eye to eye and ear to ear in the studio to make the album what it
is. I am personally grateful to them, for as a keen listener and
critical judge of musical efforts, I can only find praise in my heart
for their work at every level.
*
If you haven't seen Delia perform live,
please seek her out. If that is not possible, please watch some of
her videos, and if you value the effort she had made to give this
album to the world, please purchase it.
https://9starmedia.com/delia-olam-t (The new album is here.)
https://deliaolam.bandcamp.com/ (The 2012 album is here)
*
Review written by Morgan Taubert.
Morgan is an Adelaide Hills writer,
musician and teacher of Middle Eastern drumming. His other work can
be found below.
Www.zebulonstoryteller.bandcamp.com
– Morgan's solo music
www.letterstocicero.blogspot.com
– Writing letters to the authors of the ancient world
www.praiseliving.blogspot.com
– reviews of living artists and their work
www.drumarabesque.blogspot.com
– a middle eastern drum study blog
www.indivisiblefrommagic.blogspot.com
– blurring the lines between fact and fiction
www.invisibleenclave.blogspot.com
– the story of recording the Zebulon solo album
