The CD’s first track, “Life,” opens with some crowd
sounds, and a bit of Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell.” Okay, I know that “The Liberty
Bell” existed before Monty Python used it, but as far as I’m concerned it is
just the Monty Python’s Flying Circus
theme song, and whatever came before is of no importance. Anyway, we get just a
bit of that before this song begins in earnest. It’s a cool track, an
introduction to what will follow, referring to it as “the show of shows” and mentioning that “the stage is set.” So is it an admission of artifice? Perhaps, but
it seems that it is also in line with Jaques’ famous speech from As You Like It, that all the world’s a
stage. And this track invites us to take part, like a barker for the carnival
of life. The vocal line has a good rhythm. Check out these lines: “And the world keeps turning, live are
churning, loving and killing are part of this burning/The best and the worst
they make this scale, we haven’t realized we are so frail.” I love that
moment when the saxophone suddenly comes in.
“Life” leads straight into “The Force That We Call Life,”
a short, somewhat pretty tune featuring an orchestral arrangement by Paul
Buckmaster. That, in turns, leads straight into “Tribute To D,” an instrumental
rock track that features some nice work on saxophone. The sax becomes a part of
the atmospheric rock sounds, until the end, when it rises above the other
instruments. This track fades out. Then “Man With A Gun” opens with a thumping
hard rock force. The gun problem is more serious than ever, and yet some folks
still want to blame everything but the easy availability of the guns themselves
(someone really ought to smack Ted Nugent across the face). If those pro-gun
people become the victims of gun violence themselves, perhaps they will change
their horrible, indefensible stance. Anyway, this song has a serious, intense
tone. “Like the sunlight in a day, he
will never go away/He is holding onto all his power/And in the hour of your
need, he is only feeling greed/And he simply wants to see you cower.” I
hope the line “You know that without
fail, they will never go to jail” will prove incorrect. How is Donald Trump
not already spending his life in prison?
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” What a lot of us
feel these days is something more like “Furious Desperation,” which is the
title of one of my personal favorite tracks on this CD. “Furious Desperation” begins
with a good beat and a snippet of a speech from Bernie Sanders. When Shawn’s
vocals come in, the lyrics are delivered almost like beat poetry over the beat.
Halfway through, a very cool bass line comes in, and then there is some
delicious and kind of funky work on keys. Check out these lines: “No insurance, county’s full, the ambulance
is transportation/To take you on those useless rounds, in furious desperation.”
Not bad, eh? “Don’t look to god or devil
now, for both of them are taken/This is the earth for all us folks, it’s not yet
all forsaken/Just wake up to priorities, forget the conflagration.”
“C’mon Round” has more of a fun, cheerful, optimistic
sound and vibe, with something of a country feel, and is another of the disc’s
highlights. This is one that I like more and more. “Ain’t nobody here immortal; if you’re hearin’ this, you’re alive.” Jonathan
McEuen plays guitar on this track. “Bach To The Fusion” features some beautiful
work on guitar. Settle in and let this track transport you. I love the mix of
electronic and acoustic sounds, a combining of worlds. This is another of my favorites.
“Dancing In Survival,” which has my favorite title of the album, takes us on a
ride too, particularly in the instrumental section in its second half. The
album concludes with “Some Things Will Never Change,” an idea that frightens
me. We need some serious change, and we need it immediately, beginning with the
absolute and total destruction of the entire Trump regime. Not one of them
should be left in a position of power. Trump has surrounded him with the
absolute worst that humanity has to offer, which makes sense, as a guy like Donald
isn’t going to attract decent or intelligent people. Anyway, the track begins
with the eerie sound of winds across what is perhaps a desolate landscape. The
lyrics are delivered as spoken word, as poetry over gentle music. “Through the wonders of perception, we
question time and space/We grapple with the issues, but never that of grace/In
seeking God we kill ourselves, I find this so deranged/But in the order of this
chaos, some things will never change.”
CD Track List
- Life
- The Force That We Call Life
- Tribute To D
- Man With A Gun
- Furious Desperation
- C’mon Round
- Song For A Thief
- Bach To The Fusion
- In Grace We Intend
- Dancing In Survival
- Mirror Of Light
- Some Things Will Never Change
Continuance was
released digitally on January 31, 2018, and is now available on CD.
Excellent review: spot on. Shawn is my favorite artist and I listen to him daily. How such an immense talent has remained so under appreciated is indicative of the narrow view of most Americans in regard to their willingness to listen only to what the commercial music industry foists upon them. Thank you for your insight...
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading my review, and for your kind words. And yes, the main reason I started this music blog was to let folks know about good music they might not otherwise be aware of, music that should be heard more widely.
DeleteAs a long-time fan (since Contribution), this album is a disappointment. His heart, as ever, is in the right place, but nobody's mind is changed by music (or at most, not much) and his sentiments will only be shared by the already converted, a dwindling number of fans. Yes, he's angry, and justifiably so, but Shaw's uniqueness was always in letting music transcend the day to day shit we deal with. At his best, he transported us up and out. Here, the heavy sound bogs us down and the melodic muse has entirely flown - there's none of his signature harmonic bliss happening here. I hope he makes more music, but that he makes it in a peaceful frame of mind. I can only raise a thin "right on" fist in response to this before cutting it off in mid-song.
ReplyDelete"Shawn", of course.
ReplyDelete