Farrell Spence - A Town Called Hell

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 4 / 5 / 2008

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There was a buzz around this album for me even before I heard it. I’d like to pride myself on not being taken in by over enthusiastic press sheets and it’s rare that I visit a MySpace page or, if I do, I seldom revisit it very often. But there was something about the information I received for this debut from Canadian singer / songwriter Farrell Spence that made me check out her web site and something about that which kept drawing me back. I had the feeling that her album, if and when it came my way, was going to be just that little bit different, that little bit special. So it came to be that the first album that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this year was the debut from a singer out of Vancouver that I hadn’t even heard of two months previously. It was either down to someone on her team doing something right, or the clips of the sound she was making that I heard on her web site which took my breath away that impelled me to uncharacteristically visit her site again and again, listening to clips, just waiting for the day when I had the full album in my hands. We all know the feeling when an album we have been eagerly awaiting hasn’t lived up to expectations. But this collection of ten mainly original songs is exactly what I had been expecting; what I had been hoping for. I needed this album and if your life hasn’t been an absolute breeze from the day you entered this world until the present then so will you. Farrell is one of those singers who will touch you with her tales of life in a non-perfect world. You will curl up in the warmth and comfort of her vocals in those lost early mornings, and the music which accompanies her tales will both soothe and disturb you. But to start from the beginning, the album opens with the sound of a train whistle and as the sound of the passing train fades into the title song the first thing that strikes you is that even without Farrell opening her mouth you are lost in the atmospheric sounds that, as time shows, are all over this album and are one of the reasons that make this debut stand tall over the competition. Nearly one and a half minutes pass before we hear Farrell’s vocals on the album, but the sound of a train pulling out coupled with guitar and harmonica fits perfectly for what is to come, there’s a feeling of loneliness ; an overwhelming sense of sadness in those opening 90 seconds that no words can convey. Then those vocals glide in over that soundscape and you’re lost in the beauty of Farrell’s comforting vocals. While this Canadian is adept at expressing sadness in her vocals better than a lot of her contemporaries there’s a calmness in her voice that suggests that things are maybe not as bleak as they look, if it’s possible that a singing voice can give you hope that life is not always going to be such a bitch then Farrell Spence is the possessor of such a thing. Farrell’s vocals are a thing of beauty ; the first words she sings are “ I got a transistor radio, bottle of wine, what say you we go and waste some time…” and suddenly the feeling of loneliness, that feeling of desperation brought on by those opening sounds are diminished just ever so slightly by the light and hope Farrell’s vocals bring. And yep, the only thing you want to do right then is go and ‘waste’ some time with her. Of the couple of non-originals on the album, Mary Gauthier’s ‘I Drink’ was an obvious choice for Farrell to cover. Gauthier covers much the same ground lyrically as Farrell and the highlight of the composer’s ‘Mercy Now’ album from three years back is given a new lease of life with Farrell’s breathier vocals which make the lyrics hit home even harder. The fact that any one of Farrell’s originals matches the brilliance of ‘I Drink’ should make any member of Gauthier’s ever increasing fan base rush out and buy ‘A Town Called Hell’. Farrell’s original ‘Boys Like You And Girls Like Me’ which follows ‘I Drink’ segues into a short instrumental reading of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and again shows just how talented Farrell is ; tagging on a snippet of a song so totally unexpected at the end of one of her songs so seamlessly is a brilliant touch. All these ten songs need to be heard, Farrell has obviously lived every line in her songs and as the collection is self- mixed and produced she has also no doubt deliberated over every last instrument and sound on these songs which make songs like ‘Tell It To Someone Else’ and ‘A Murder Of Crows’ instant classics. Real songs, real feelings / raw songs, raw feelings…this is an album for those of us who know the world around us is not and is never going to be perfect, but for as long as we have the Farrell Spences of this world giving us just that flicker of hope in their vocals that maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance it might just get better, we should support and cherish the music they make that gets the rest of us through. A stunning debut and a collection of songs that deserved to be heard.

Track Listing:-

1 A Town Called Hell
2 Those Were the Days
3 I Drink
4 Boys Like You and Girls Like Me
5 Tell It to Someone Else
6 A Murder of Crows
7 Killing Time
8 Losing You Again
9 High Fever Blues
10 Here's to You and Me

Band Links:-

http://farrellspencemusic.com/reviews

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