Music Review: Fauxliage - Fauxliage

If there's one thing that Delerium has historically done very well, it has been picking out female vocalists and collaborators. A quick run through of their work shows the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Zoe Johnston, and longtime contributor Kristy Thirsk. But this focus on female vocalists also brought about a stylistic shift in the band. Where some of their earlier work relied more on either gothic industrial or instrumental soundscapes with more through-composed output, the vocals eventually led them down the path of doing music that was much more rooted in the Enigma vein of pop.

Fauxliage is their new guise (and is added to their growing list of alter-egos), and finds them finally "settling down" with just one vocalist and making a proper pop album. Leigh Nash has become a more consistent collaborator for the duo, having contributed to two prior Delerium albums. And this trio now becomes Fauxliage. Those familiar with Delerium's recent output, and in particular Leigh's contributions, should know what to expect. They aren't breaking any new ground here, just rounding it out into a full length.

Leigh Nash seems both an unlikely and perfect addition to the mix. Although a regular contributor in the past, she was no more regular than several other vocalists that could have been picked. However, she has a beautiful, frail, and otherworldly voice that adds a much-needed texture to the songs. On their own, they could just be more of the light-electronica pop fare. But with her voice, they become something much more unique.

The album opens with "All The World", and starts an interesting thread for the kind of record it helps to shape. It's lyrically pretty dark. Most of the songs are about strained or dying love. The opening chorus sings "I'm having a hard time / I'm making you do the hard time too / I'm stuck in a bad way / And I'm gonna make you pay for it." But in general the music is so much prettier and more delicate than the lyrics it surrounds that you might not even notice the dark undertones until much later.

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

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