Sometimes I just wait, biting my fingernails, anticipating the storm growing in the menacing clouds in the distance. They billow, one on top of another, rolling, leap frogging into town. And I wait for them to shower the hard, cracked ground, water the tomatoes in my garden, and drench my own hopeful head.
I felt the same impatience pressing on me as I waited for The Fall by All India Radio to come in the mail. When it finally showed up in that brown paper package (tied up in string), I felt the same way I do when the clouds have covered the blue sky, and I wait, praying the storm won’t disappoint, as I feel the first thirst quenching drop smack my arm.
And The Fall didn’t disappoint. I listened to it straight through as I leaned back, swallowed in my husband’s “big-manly-man recliner” with my eyes closed, smiling at the ceiling. I could almost feel the music swirl around me like raindrops in a slow motion storm.
The Fall is hauntingly beautiful. The lyrics capture you like a burst of lightening in the distance. The strings, bass, and piano pull you in until you’re so drenched you don’t care. The band, continuously evolving from their solo beginnings in 1999 to a new level of mystic dream-pop, has added singer and co-writer Leona Prue to the slowed hip-hop beats and atmospheric post-rock edges. Her soothing voice mesmerizes and unifies the album with captivating lyrics and melodies.
The CD is all around entrancing, but each track has a unique flavor. “Fall” leads with its upbeat, driving melody. “Morning Drops” enchants with strings and piano, morphing. And the lyrics to “Chameleon” bring an evocative flare to the album.
If you enjoy Indie bands, combining but not enslaved to commercial venues, All India Radio has mastered their unique sound, recorded and packaged for your convenience, in the simple but amazing album, The Fall. Listen now to some of the tracks if you’re not convinced. But be careful, the music will capture you like a menacing but beautiful storm.
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