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The Sounding Board by R J Lannan |
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RJ Lannan is the reviewer for The Sounding Board. |
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| Out of the Darkness |
| By Michele McLaughlin |
| Label: Self Released |
| Released 4/23/2010 |
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| Out of the Darkness tracks |
1. Forsaken
2. The Descent
3. Indignation
4. Forbearance
5. Out of the Darkness
6. So Long Mr. Selfish
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7. Transformation
8. Perseverance
9. Finding Solace in Friends
10. New Light
11. In the Stillness of Peace
12. Rejoice
13. So Long Mr. Selfish (Remix)
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How Can You Mend... |
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A broken heart is a large, cavernous space to fill. It can sometimes be filled with words, or time or music. Or all of the above. Michele McLaughlin is doing it with music on her new release Out of the Darkness. Writers are encouraged to write what they know, musicians can do no less. Her marriage ended in 2009 and her world collapsed around her. It is heart wrenching to come home and find yourself alone and all the things you used to do together mean very little when you do them alone. Nevertheless, like the aftermath of a funeral, you must go on. All your time is spent with the prospect of healing. This is what Michele is doing with her music. Trying to fill her heart up again.
The overall feel of the album is changeable. The solo piano compositions range from somber to dramatic to melancholy and with many tangents. That is what the spirit does after a faltering experience; it looks for explanations, for balance and for peace.
How do you feel when you are told you no longer have worth? Forsaken is the music to that experience, from glowering depression to immense sadness. The overall theme asks "Why have you done this?" over and over again. There is tremendous sorrow in the notes, each one more than a tear, more than a recrimination or more than a question.
The Descent starts out like a well-known sonata, than transforms into a contemporary piece of angst in is its most painful form. I could almost imagine an experience akin to losing your mind for a time. Nothing makes sense and your life has no meaning. Fortunately, you keep your sanity while in the process.
The title tune, Out of the Darkness is the turning point. It is a mere glow at the end of the tunnel, but a hopeful glow. It is a time to remember that the process of healing always begins inside no matter what the wound looks like on the outside. The music begins to take on a suggestion of warmth and neutrality. Not yet emotionally hopeful, but with more resolve.
When So Long Mr. Selfish came out of the speakers, it actually startled me. It was so out of context that I thought perhaps it was on the disc by mistake. The tune, performed with a player piano sound was like the soundtrack out of a 1920's silent movie where the music is the dialogue. The tone was certainly evil, fiendish and melodramatic. Once I realized that, I sat back and listened to the movie it made in my mind and the villain ended up on the railroad tracks. Not a bad ending.
The tone finally begins to lighten with the song Finding Solace in Friends and I am actually kind of glad. The slightly cheerful, almost energetic tune begins to add balance to the sadness that I was exposed to on the earlier part of the album. The tune is not only one of hopefulness, but of gratitude.
In the Stillness of Peace is a song that Michele gifts to herself. The sweet, gentle music is an affirmation that peace pursued is peace found. The climax to the album however, is a song called Rejoice. It is Michele's discovery that there is life after tragedy. The music is the sum of all the parts of her journey, sad and catastrophic, neutral and melancholy and finally a new discovery of happiness.
I hope that Michele has found a modicum of peace with this album. That is for her to determine. I know that I went along for a short time with her on the journey and I learned a bit and maybe even grieved a bit with her. I also felt better for the experience. Michele’s composition skills and very good and she writes how she feels.
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Rating: Good +  |
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- reviewed by RJ Lannan on 7/16/2010 |
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