The album opens with one of her original compositions, “Feel Alive,” the album’s title track, a song that deals directly with the pandemic. Its opening lines set the scene: “Another day in lockdown paradise, another week, another month, it’s all a blur/And all the suffering and loss is just staggering, so broken down by the state of the world/Sometimes it’s easy to crawl into a shell.” I remember at the beginning when it was said that possibly a hundred thousand people could die, we were terrified by that number. Imagine if we’d known then what the actual number would be. None of us would have emerged from our beds. But this song is about fighting those impulses, about persevering, about living. “Gonna kick that door open wide,” she sings. What made me feel okay during those first few months was finding some musicians who played nightly concerts in my neighborhood, gathering at the end of their respective driveways and performing a few songs together. That had such a positive, life-affirming feel, and this song has that same spirit. This is one of the tracks to feature the backing vocalists. Reginald Bowens, Christie Dashiell, Mariah Kamau and Danielle Withers join Sally Terrell on vocals. They also sing on the second version of this song, a track positioned near the end of the album. That version is nearly a minute shorter than the first version, and includes a section at the end where the vocalists perform a cappella, riffing on the song’s title.
The album’s first cover is Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” Sally Terrell delivers a somewhat slow, thoughtful rendition, with certain lines really coming into strong focus, such as “Never saw the sun shining so bright/Never saw things going so right/Noticing the days hurrying by.” This version is about making the decision to focus on what was good, or at least making that attempt. For while we were worried at the beginning of the pandemic, time did not stand still. The sun still came out, time still rushed along. And we are not out of this pandemic yet. At the very end of this track, she adds a little nod to “Here Comes The Sun.” And who knows? Perhaps this will be there year when this thing is finally brought under control. She follows that with “Choose,” an original composition. This line grabbed me the first time I listened to this disc: “And the poison you’ve been drinking hoping someone else would die.” What a striking, wonderfully blunt line. “And all of the answers you’ve searched your life to find/Asking the wrong questions, believing all the lies.” You might recall, at the beginning of this pandemic, there was a different guy occupying the White House, someone for whom the truth was a stranger. Truth was hard to come by for a long while. And for some, the truth is still something to shun. “Time to open your eyes/Set yourself free and see this through.” This song has a positive bent, seeming to urge the listener to live deliberately. This is another of the tracks to feature some nice backing vocal work.
The album continues to alternate between original compositions and covers, with Sally Terrell next delivering a good rendition of “Almost Like Being In Love.” “There’s a smile on my face/For the whole human race.” There were moments at the beginning of the pandemic when it seemed this struggle might unite everyone, and there were scenes of spontaneous beauty, like the musicians playing from their windows in Italy. It felt like we could push through this together (though physically apart). Of course, quickly we learned that the people in leadership positions in our country were going to be no help whatsoever, that they did not have the fortitude or humanity or even interest to step up. No one here had a smile for their fellow citizens, never mind for the whole human race. “Almost Like Being In Love” is followed by “Lights And Sirens,” an original song. At the beginning of this one, there is a bit of spoken word delivered by special guest Giacomo Gates. This song also directly addresses the pandemic: “Suddenly we’re in a shutdown, a lockdown, we break down inside the fear.” But this one also addresses the larger atmosphere in this country, where extreme division, racism and police violence were creating even more troubles while the pandemic raged on. There is an appropriate intensity to this track, to the message. I love the saxophone. “In an age when truth and decency are compromised, it’s no surprise we lost our way.” I wonder if we can regain our way. I am usually optimistic, but in this case I cannot maintain that optimism. However, I think Sally Terrell is able to keep a positive perspective. That saxophone certainly helps. Giacomo Gates delivers a spoken word section halfway through: “Sometimes it feels like down is up and up is down, and what is up with hatred in the name of free speech on one side and cancel culture as the supreme arbiter on the other?”
Sally Terrell offers a pretty rendition of “When I Fall In Love,” with warm tones, particularly on piano. And in the strange, uncertain climate of our country, these lines stand out: “In a restless world like this is/Love is ended before it’s begun.” There is a gentle, wonderful instrumental section in the second half. Then “Beautiful” begins with some good backing vocal work. This is a song about how we don’t connect with each other on a true, human level, that we don’t really see each other. And it is about the violence that results from bigotry, from a lack of empathy, a lack of understanding. The song itself attempts to reach out. “Can’t you see it? It could be beautiful, to see each other as we are/If you could see it, it could be beautiful, and that’s a start.” The backing vocal work here has a wonderful gospel vibe, and the track features some passionate sounds from the sax. Again, Sally Terrell is hopeful, even optimistic, that sense heard in lines like “If we walk together in compassion and love, imagine the power we are capable of.” That’s followed by a cover of “You Don’t Know Me.” This is such a beautiful song, and Sally Terrell does a wonderful job with it. I love John di Martino’s work on piano, and that instrumental section will gently carry you to a different place, a different time.
“Out In The Blue” has something of a light bossa nova vibe as it begins. “And parting is the sorrow, and the mystery of tomorrow helps us cherish the sweet today.” Ah yes, that is what it is about, isn’t it? The pandemic caused many of us to take another look at our priorities. And for a lot of us, it was family and friends that came into focus, particularly when we couldn’t be with them and had to stay in contact via phone. There is something soothing about this track, even as it reminds us of the brevity of life, and how our loved ones are gone all too soon. “The seasons of life, less certain than the tides.” That’s followed by a cover of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,” which begins with some pretty work on acoustic guitar, and features an intimate vocal performance. The album concludes with “Some Other Time.” How well did you use the time when everything was shut down? That’s what I’m thinking about when hearing the lines, “Where has the time all gone to/Haven’t done half the things we want to.” And the next line, “Oh well, we’ll catch up some other time” is hopeful and also so sad, because there is that feeling that it will never happen. Sally Terrell’s vocals are supported by piano on this track. This is a beautiful, intimate, moving way of ending the album.
CD Track List
- Feel Alive
- Blue Skies
- Choose
- Almost Like Being In Love
- Lights And Sirens
- When I Fall In Love
- Beautiful
- You Don’t Know Me
- Out In The Blue
- Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
- I Feel Alive (Alt.)
- Some Other Time
Feel Alive was
released on April 22, 2022.
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