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Album Review: Orisha - Falling Open
Review by Music Vice editor Brian Banks - November 30, 2009
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This record landed in the Music Vice mailbox in Canada way back in May this year and is a survivor among my purged possessions after many travels and tribulations of the past months. It is ideal timing, as the weather here in Great White North begins to turn bleak and cold, that I find myself getting around to reviewing Falling Open.
The artist of this record is Orisha, a band of which a young Australian lady named Emah Fox is the sole permanent protagonist.
Looking closer into the meaning behind the band name, I discovered that an Orisha is: "a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system". Yoruba being a faith originating from the New World, including Australia. Given this information, Orisha is the perfect band name for an artist who has created an album that evokes such a spiritual quality in her music.
Going back to my opening statement about the time of which I am reviewing this album, I have to give mention to the third track "Waiting For A Change". The vocals and electro are on a par on this track in terms of their graceful airiness, while the lyrics themselves are the most evocative and impacting of the album. To quote:
"You've been holed up for months now
Sleeping through the winter
The poison in your blood
Slows you down, makes you bitter
I'm restless and cold
I can't make a sound"
Later on in the album comes Orisha's version of "Se Tu M'ami", an opera song, sung with vigour (and not like a soprano) and backed by an atmospheric combination of electro and strings.
This album would serve as a good accompaniment to Taken By Tree's Sufi chill-out East Of Eden - Falling Open isn't as essential, but a moodier alternative for those seeking some mellow and introspective listening material.
© Brian Banks
