Should you happen to meet an admired luminary at say, a fan convention or such, and if you managed to overcome your innate shyness in the presence of said personage to enough of a degree as to actually converse in a half-way coherent manner, you may perhaps come to the conclusion that the guy in question, namely front man of Howth's home-grown band Evora, is, like you, intrinsically shy. This was my initial impression of Alan Rickard.
At that time, in November 2012, I knew the Evora songs featured in 'Dreaming For You' the film by Eoin Macken, notably 'Shelter' a guitar based scene stealer, and a softer, more melodic song, 'Diamond Tears'. Both are brilliant tracks that wriggle into, and remain, quietly nestling within the subconscious, and which perfectly compliment that darkly engaging indie film. It was clear to me on first viewing that all those involved in the movie promised more and greater things to come. Kicking about with Alan for a bit between sessions at the con' and shooting the breeze about the music biz past and present, it also became clear to me that Alan's quiet exterior belies an eloquent, clear-sighted and steely character propelled forward by great determination. He is canny, hard working and has carried out Evora's PR and promotion with skill & expertise, like a person born to it. It also goes without saying the guy has talent in spades.
At the convention I wanted to sit and listen to Alan play his guitar and sing, but as I was helping out I didn't get the chance to soak it all up. So it was that later during Q&As the thing that totally impressed me was Alan's ability to provide impromptu musical stings to Eoin's fanciful crowd banter. In that moment he was an ultra-confident, creative musical talent, possibly more at home lending guitar based punctuation marks to the craic of others, than joining in with actual words. (Can I use the word craic if I'm not Irish? Meh, it's St Patrick's day..) Here was a guy totally at ease with an axe in his hand, expertly wielding it and possibly using it as a shield or a form of protection.
I've got to know Alan a little more in the odd way that you can get to know people on Twitter. This soundbite-laden medium remains a constant fascination to me. Through it you can build a image of what you imagine a person to be genuinely like, its a bit like piecing together a complex puzzle and given that my twitter 'persona' is just a semblance of my more reserved self, I can only imagine that the same is true of other 'twitbuds'. However, I like to think the essence of a person comes across, but then again you can never tell! Getting to 'know' Alan has been great fun, he can be elusive or candid, funny or serious, polite or downright cheeky, a juxtaposition, an enigma and consequently utterly intriguing. The thing that gives the essence of the man away in fact is not the twitter communication, but the music.
As I'm working on Eoin's next movie 'Cold' featuring new songs from Evora, I've been blissing out over the past weeks on their new tunes in live or unmixed form. I've eagerly awaited the release of their first album "Hurry Up Before I Die" with growing excitement and I'm sure I've worn even the patience of other fellow Evora Twitter fans paper thin with my constant plugging and retweeting of said album!
I built expectations, so my first surprise was this: I anticipated the cover of the album to be a conventional shot of the band, taken perhaps at interesting angles, in an arty way. Wrong! I caught sight of the artwork in a tweet in the middle of the night and it took my very breath away. What I saw was beautiful and unexpected. No mug shots or fancy graphics here. Instead a simple, only slightly serif text situated in the top left hand corner of an image of a boy on an edge, leaning dangerously close to falling into....what? A river? An abyss? Life itself? It's open to your interpretation and therefore fascinating. Just like the frontman himself. Excellently well played Evora. Watching this band stand on the precipice of success and then plunge in is going to be endlessly fascinating!
Right, to the music then. For bands I love I never just buy the single, I get the entire album and so I preordered 'Hurry Up' as soon as I could. I tested the preview button when Alan requested to see if it worked... just for a minute second, I instantly recognised the tune from the film and was astounded at how lush and wonderful it sounded! I'm a purist and like to listen to albums from start to finish. OK, maybe I'm a bit OCD about books, film and music, I've got to give them their best shot, so I never read the last page, never jump songs on first listen and sometimes watch films 'cold' by avoiding all reviews and hype. I've also sat in recording studios and watched albums being put together. So I know the blood, sweat, tears and near fisticuffs that can go into producing them. Every note and sound is meticulously thought through and the running order painstakingly considered. The whole process is highly intense, all consuming and sometimes painful. Therefore the least I can do when buying an album is to listen to it from start to finish, in the order the band intended.
I knew that James Dean was mentioned in the lyrics of one of the songs, as Alan pointed out this coincidence after my last blog post. If you've read my previous post you'll know what JD means to me and the first line of the first song 'Close To You' is "I could be your James Dean". This instantly had me smiling and I didn't stop until, well I think I still haven't stopped actually! :) I know the album was written at around the same time as the script for Cold, which draws from the Steinbeck's classic 'East of Eden' in which James Dean starred, so I wonder if this is how the song was derived? The sound and tone of the song is lush and verdant and melodically uplifting, this is true of the album as a whole. I knew the acoustic version of the next song 'Started to Wish You Well' and to hear it all grand and lavish was wonderful.
I won't go into every song on the album. That is for you to discover and make up your own mind about. For me, the shock of the album was how tender and yearning the lyrics are and how wonderful and rich in tone the layers of sound are. Half way through the 3rd song I was thinking, blimey, this album may well be a classic... I knew Evora were good, I love the old songs & the present single, but I have to admit, to my embarrassment, I must have underestimated them because I just didn't expect to have such an intense and instantly positive reaction to the album. A fabulous, exciting thing. The enduring feel of the album as a whole is both uplifting and melancholic at once. The words are wishful & longing, it is beautifully harmonised with lush backing vocals, along with being wonderfully and cleanly produced. There are fantastically effective key changes (Into the Fire) and genius counter point (Fall Away & Jangle). The song Jangle gives Evora's Irish roots away completely, I know there was discussion about the title, and had I known before, I might have suggested 'Diddly' myself..... I jest!! I love to dance (check out my next post soon) and If you sing about dancing as well as this, using a glorious mandolin and harmonies raising the chorus to the very heights, you're onto a winner!
For me, all the songs hit hard, like 'In Your Eyes' (deadly) 'Meet me by the Water' and Fall Away. Definitely Fall Away. That one is a total killer. And oh the voice... *Bangs head on keyboard, thumps clenched fist on desk*
In Evora I can hear influences from bands that I love, all of them personal favourites of mine, the music I like to listen to when I'm happy, in France, on holiday. I've listened to this album in the day, in the night, in the bath, in the car. Now I cannot wait to hear it lying on the sand or in lush green grass staring up at the summer sky. Music wallpapers my life and I make up my own personal soundtrack daily. Music evokes emotion and memories and 'Hurry Up Before I Die' will ever be the portal that transports me back to this very moment in time. An exciting, happy time, one that I am absolutely loving.
Thank you Alan. Thank you Evora.
