Tim Pare - Trans-Siberian Express

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 11 / 2006

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Review

There’s a story worth telling behind the making of this album. Back in 2004 Tim Pare quit his job, sold his house and left his long-term relationship and moved to China. There he became a teacher. A year later he returned on the Trans-Siberian Express, stuck in a carriage with a group of drunken Russian conscripts. After being threatened by the soldiers; one of them held a knife to Tim’s neck, Pare swapped a bottle of vodka for a battered four stringed guitar from a drunken sniper. Once he began to sing the soldier pulled back the knife from Tim’s neck. His first international performance had been a success. To close the story with a happy ending Pare has been invited back to play for the Russian Navy several times since that incident. It was during that frightening journey that Pare used his MP3 player to record the rough demos which were to become 'Trans- Siberian Express'. Judging by the finished results some good came out of that experience. There are six songs on 'Trans-Siberian Express' which makes it either an EP or a mini-album depending on your view. There are all stripped-down affairs blessed with gorgeous melodies. Pare’s acoustic guitar is fleshed out by keyboards and piano by Tom Jarvis who also arranged and recorded these original Pare songs. It’s obvious from the opening song, ‘Exorcism’ that Pare knows his way around a melody and it’s the first time we get to hear his clear, strong vocals. There’s a lonely cello courtesy of Jonathan Draper unpinning the melody and beautiful backing vocals by Jarvis. But it’s when Pare sings “I’m tired of the bottom, I’m coming up” near the end of the song and the music shifts a gear that we start to think that here are the makings of the next big singer-songwriter. The song is about Pare’s decision to change the way his life was going and it’s a brilliant start to the album and the perfect introduction to the man’s talents. ‘Shoot To Win’ follows and is again a beautiful, heartfelt performance, a piano/acoustic guitar love song; touching without being over sentimental it also shows that apart from writing catchy melodies Pare can certainly write lyrics to match the best of them. ‘Looking At Me’ is another song based on the love theme and the chorus is simply stunning, it’s one of those once-heard-never-forgotten songs. That chorus will rattle around in your head all day long. And the best thing is that it’s just acoustic guitars and double tracked vocals with the odd hand-clap thrown in for good measure on the last showing of the chorus. It’s proof that a strong melody coupled with words we can all understand doesn’t need any number of embellishments to make it interesting. If the song is strong in the first place a simple handclap works better than a wall of sound. Even with his talent for writing strong melodies and strong lyrics, Pare obviously realises that these are not enough at times, especially when presented in such a stripped-down form. So the addition of even more cello on ‘Losing My Touch’ is, like before, a powerful touch and the vocals of one Jemima Grace turn the song into the standout performance on the album. It’s song about a relationship breaking-up where that weeping cello is really affecting and where Grace’s vocals will break your heart. It’s a shame that Pare has chosen this particular moment in time to show his songs to the world. There are so many male singer-songwriters today who are vying for our attention. But Pare really is one of the best and does deserve to be heard. By presenting us with this all too short collection of songs he has certainly made his name one to watch out for in the future.

Track Listing:-

1 Exorcism
2 Shoot To Win
3 Looking At Me
4 Afterglow
5 Losing My Touch
6 You've Got Your Work Cut Out