Stella Polaris Project (Orphans)
Reviewed by GreyBrow on (Wednesday, February 07, 2007) Rated 8.5 / 10| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 9 |
| Interest | 9 |
| Melody | 9 |
| Performance | 10 |
| Lyrics | 9 |
| Enjoyment | 9 |
| Recording Quality | 7 |
| Commercial Appeal | 6 |
| Overall | 8.5 |
The first thing that your reviewer encounters when embarking upon a review is, of course, the title. And today, dear reader I am faced with a track called “Orphans” and what strikes me immediately is how evocative that title is.
So allow me please, a brief digression while I muse on this word. First off, it comes down to us from Greek (orphanos), via Latin (orphanus) and Middle English almost unchanged – and that, I think, is interesting, because words that don’t change much are important words. Words like fire, milk, water maintain their pronunciation across a great many languages because they are old and were being used before the languages split.
So orphan must be an old word and, also interestingly, it once used to mean (as well as its accepted meaning) deprived or bereft of power, a theme I shall return to later.
What also struck me was that the concept of the “orphan” was a powerful theme throughout literature, particularly children’s literature. From Oliver Twist and the Water Babies through to Harry Potter and Alex Rider, the theme of the orphaned child recurs time and time again. And not just in literature either.
Consider the following picture by Thomas Kennington: -
You don’t really need to know that it was called “Orphans” because somehow, looking at the children’s clothes, their expressions, their obvious need for each other, we can fairly easily work it out for ourselves. And therein, I think, lies both the attraction and the fear. There is something quite compelling about the child growing up without its parents, not knowing where it came from (or where it was going to) and yet, at the same time, somehow free of all the shackles that being part of a family imposes – and that, I think, is the attraction to literature. The orphaned child can do stuff that the child living with parents cannot. Harry Potter could not have had his adventures in the normal course of events and neither could Alex Rider (of Stormbreaker fame) simply because they wouldn’t have been allowed to.
Anyway, enough of the background; lets move to the track and the performers.
I have decided that Ricky Mancini is the musical equivalent of peanut butter. When he performs on his own as MD-1 Project he is definitely the crunchy version and he’s always likely to induce extreme allergic reactions among a healthy minority J - but put him in the Stella Polaris project and, lo and behold, he transforms into the smooth version, all silky with no hard edges.
And, of course, this being a transatlantic collaboration the outcome rather resembles a peanut butter and jam (or jelly as they would say in the
As far as I am aware, Ricky provides the music and Mel the words and vocals (but I’m happy to be corrected) and, for this track, they blend together as beautifully as the proverbial PBJ. So let’s taker a closer look.
First off, the music. What strikes me about it is the interplay between sax and piano. And it’s a complex interplay at that. No easy pentatonic or diatonic scales here, it’s altogether more modern. Set against this is a harder percussion track which brings about my only quibble with the mix. I do find that the percussion and Mel’s voice are fighting for the same space on occasions, mainly because they occupy a similar place in the sound spectrum and personally I would like to hear the percussion panned out a bit wider in the mix to occupy its own space more and leave Mel’s vox occupying centre stage. But it’s a minor quibble, as I say because the music is engaging, complex and put together with sumptuous skill.
And then we have the lyrics and vocals. Let’s start with the lyrics. Now, in my book, a really good set of lyrics should imply more than they actually reveal and this is definitely true of these.
Orphans in the water
Drifting out to sea
The brave new world
Is waiting just for thee
CHORUS
Orphans in the water
Chem trails in the air
The glitter-dome awaits you
If you can pay the fare
I’ve loved in a time of lions
Learned to be forgiven
Wept a f**kin ocean
Joined a new religion
Cause it’s hard to know where to go
When ya got no place to stand
It’s hard to be an orphan in this land
CHORUS
There is no anchor here to hold me
No warm love to enfold me
No blood that calls to blood
No rescue from the flood
And it’s hard to know where to go
When ya got no place to stand
It’s hard to be an orphan in this land
As I said earlier, one of the original meanings or “orphan” was somebody deprived of power and these lyrics speak to me of
And you just can’t avoid the juxtaposition between hard edged lyrics being sung by a voice that’s smoother than a woman’s body covered in molten chocolate (oops, did I really say that J)!
So, that’s my thoughts, lets talk about the marks.
Track structure: gets a 9 because it blends all its elements together so well, allows both the vocals and the instruments to have a spell in the limelight
Interest: also gets a 9 because, for a track lasting 6 minutes, it holds your attention throughout
Melody: gonna be boring here and give this 9 as well. It’s complex, intelligent and never goes for the obvious.
Performance: This gets a 10 because, from both sides, it is truly outstanding.
Lyrics: get a 9 (which would have been a 10 but, sorry to say, I would love to have seen something other than “waiting just for thee” because it is the one and only line in the whole song which sounds contrived.)
Enjoyment: sorry to be boring but this also gets a 9 – it’s a great song!
Recording Quality: is going to get a 7 because I do believe that there is scope for a better mix which would showcase a great song even better
Commercial Appeal: This is a tough one because, as a single, I think the song would struggle. It’s too long and doesn’t sit well with the type of audience that still buys singles so it gets a 6. However, if I was reviewing this as part of an album that was full of tracks of similar quality, and bearing in mind that albums are bought by much more intelligent and musically savvy people it would rate much higher (8 or 9) because the market for this type of music is much stronger for album sales.
Overall then, this is a classy track and you’ll go a long way on MP3Unsigned (or anywhere else, for that matter) to find better.
If Ricky and Mel ever got together in a professional recording studio and re-recorded this (and I’m willing to bet a lot of money that they would both love to do that) then the ensuing record could (should) be a classic.
To listen to the track Click Here