Sleepingdog - With Our Heads in the Clouds and Our Hearts in the Fields

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 24 / 4 / 2011

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Review

There have been some very positive reviews for this third album by vocalist Chantal Acda and multi-instrumentalist Adam Wiltzie. Words like beautiful, brilliant and accessible have been used, but let’s not get too carried away. Chantal Acda does indeed have a beautiful voice, but it’s wasted on this album. Wiltzie is, apparently, known for his atmospheric soundscapes, and this is the duo’s third album together so one can only assume that their best work was created on their previous two albums. There’s a dreamy feel throughout, but it’s especially noticeable on the opening track, ‘ The Untitled Ballad of You & Me’, which, in fairness, is a good way to start the album. But if it wasn’t for Acda’s vocals, which are so delicate, it sounds like she is going to break down at any second, you’d be hard pressed to get through to the end of the song. Wiltzie can, and does at times, create, haunting pieces of music, but they are far too few during the 40 plus minutes of this album. Take away Acda’s vocals and what do we have? Soulless music that has no passion, no emotion. We all listen to music for the same reason; to move us in one way or another, to move the heart, the mind, the body; to take us to another place for the duration of the song but these eight songs fail to move in any way. It’s obvious that Wiltzie has a certain musical vision and that he has spent a lot of time and energy in creating this music. Now if he was making music like many thousands of other talented people and then just presenting it to family and friends to show off his latest work and kept it as a hobby, that’s fine, but by releasing your work to the general public you’ve got to deliver something that’s at least showing a little passion to prove that you believe in your work; something has to keep the audience interested. There’s nothing here apart from Acda’s vocals that impress. Piano dominated pieces, drones and lonely violins can all be used to great effect if the songs are there or even if the songs fall on the weak side as long as some kind of passion shows through, but take a song like ‘Polish Love Song’; shorn of Acda’s vocals what do we have apart from a dreary piano introduction that we can hear in any front room on a wet Sunday afternoon. Sure when Acda’s heavenly vocals come in the interest increases but even then it’s all been heard before. There’s a feeling that Wiltzie has tried far too hard here to create something that’s different and ‘arty’ and ,while parts of this album will appeal to those who find say Sigur Ros and their ilk a satisfying listen, it still falls far short of what one feels Wiltzie was trying to achieve. The album’s title is great, but it’s like Wiltzie came up with the title first then tried so very hard to compose around that, and he has failed unfortunately to match the brilliance of the album title with songs to match. It’s when Wiltzie takes a more traditional approach to his writing that he shows just what he is capable of. ‘From Where It Was’ is probably the one song on this album where Wiltzie felt he wasn’t being true to his vision; it is after all a more structured pop song that isn’t trying to be anything other than that, and it works so well that one gets almost frustrated that Wiltzie isn’t pursuing this side of his talent more. After more than a minute of his usual sounds that mean more to him than the listener, Acda turns in her strongest vocal performance on the album in more ways than one. Sounding less fragile than before, her breathy vocals are particularly affecting and when Wiltzie’s vocals join Acda’s it all finally comes together. It’s a rare moment on the album but it shows just what Wiltzie is capable of. Because of the good reviews this album has received I put it to the test and played it to ten people from different walks of life and a variety of ages. The result was the same; when Wiltzie drops all his pretensions and writes structured songs like ‘From Where It Was’ and even parts of ‘Scary Movie’ his music works well, but there’s too much meandering going on here for most people to enjoy the album fully. But boy, Chantal Acda has a voice that’s worth hearing.

Track Listing:-

1 The Untitled Ballad Of You & Me
2 It Leaves Us Silent
3 Polish Love Song
4 Kitten Plays The Harmony Rocket
5 He Loved To See The World Through His Camera
6 From Where It Was
7 Horse Lullaby
8 Scary Movie

Label Links:-

http://www.gizehrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/gizehrecords
https://twitter.com/gizehrecords