Checking For Echo Project - Life & Other Short Stories vol. 1

 

Following on from his debut solo album project of last year - The War is Never Won - Jon Farley has used the last year of lockdown to good effect and produced Volume 1 of his new project, Life and Other Short Stories, a collection of 6 new songs alongside 3 covers and a spoken word coda. Alongside his own contributions as songwriter, drummer, bassist, guitarist and keyboardist, Jon elicits the help of ten other musicians to produce a thoughtful, evocative set of songs, chief among whom is Suzi James (Fearful Symmetry) whose guitar work throughout is exemplary.

The covers included are of Frost*'s 'Saline', IQ's 'Red Dust Shadow', and Long Earth's 'My Suit of Armour', and each of these brings a new depth to the overall feel of the album, and I find Freedom To Glide's Andy Nixon's vocals on 'My Suit of Armour' particularly well-suited and quietly powerful.

It would be fair to say that this is not a Friday night party album: the general mood is one of reflection, and Jon's piano-led writing lends itself to this. That mood does lift occasionally, when Suzi "lets go" in 'Stillborn' and 'Seen But Not Heard' (and these, to me, seem to be when there is a need for escape in the song), but it is generally subdued. The subject matter overall is, for me, about escape and longing; trauma; the barriers that we erect to get through life; and the hot-button topic of mental health, and these are approached through the lenses of relationships, childhood, homelessness and the delicate subject of stillbirth.

The album opener, 'Stillborn', is, for me, the strongest song in the collection - certainly the one that touched me the most. In my working life as a Christian Minister, it was a subject that I'd had to confront on a small number of occasions, and it is handled so sensitively here. The song starts with a gentle heartbeat in the background, and has a quiet, soothing melody as the mother waits expectantly, but then an abrupt change of dynamic with loud and slightly off-beat guitars breaking the peace, as if there's a battle going on (maybe there is...). The climax is back to the quiet , but a different quiet, and the heartbeat slowly slows and stops.

One of the strengths of this album is the use of 8 different vocalists, who each bring their own distinctive 'voice' to Jon's songs and arrangements; another is the guitar work throughout of Suzi James (as already mentioned). But without the song-writing these would count for nothing, and Jon is both thoughtful and thought-provoking is his lyrics, and wistful and stirring in his melodies. This is music which makes you think.

All proceeds from the sales will go to support the work of Help Musicians and Stage Hand ,and the album is available at Bandcamp from 7th April 2021, with vol. 2 hopefully available later this year.

Checking For Echo - The War Is Never Won

With the centenary of the end of the First World War recently marked, there have been a few attempts to analyse the experience and impact of that conflict on those who were directly involved in it, and some of those have been musical ones. Saul Blease's 2018 album 'The Great War', and Freedom To Glide's trilogy, 'Rain', 'Fall' and 2019's 'Seed' are just a couple of examples that particularly stood out for me.

So when I received a copy of Checking For Echo's album, 'The War Is Never Won', I was a little cautious: was this just going to be another version of the same story? But I was pleasantly surprised.

This is the work of Jon Farley, and touches on a number of aspects of the consequences of war in a thoughtful and poignant way. The album opens with an epic-length, multi-part song, 'The War Within', which starts with gentle piano arpeggios before the plaintiff vocals begin, taking us on a journey from childhood innocence, through responding to ones nation's call to arms and the loss of 'friendships barely forged', the desire to return home, and the difference in home and the soldier that war has brought about. The use of the whistle at the start of 'The Whole Nine Yards' and a trumpet sound as reflection begins in 'Field of Souls' are very evocative, as is the contrast in the hope, the realisation and the consequence of 'The Homecoming'. 'The Forgotten Country' touches a little on what we now recognise as PTSD, and the change that war brings to those who fight it and to those who are fought for. One of the most powerful lines says: "The battle comes home and it takes its deadly hold in each mother’s darling son", and at times there only seems one way out from the nightmares... Thoughtful, powerful stuff.

The rest of the album then takes us on a journey through the many conflicts that have followed from 'the war to end all wars'. 'The Greater Good' contrasts the reality with the public voices of those in charge - that this slaughter is for the greater good. Musically this reminded me a little of John Holden's work. Lyrically there's an almost restrained anger at times, without the resort to cynicism or sarcasm, which has a powerful effect. 'Victory's Waltz' is an instrumental interlude of a sort, and it doesn't come across much like a traditional waltz! (I can't quite work out the signature at times) There is attack and drive in it, which raises the mood of the album, which has been a little subdued up to now (understandably). 'Heroes' starts with seagulls screaming and the fleet leaving Portsmouth on its way to the Falklands, and is a tribute to all those who have given their all 'to defend British Isles'. This is not your typical anti-war song, in fact it clearly calls for support for those who serve, which is never a bad thing, however we feel about the morality of war.

'It's a Crude Business' is a delightfully tongue-in-cheek examination of Western (but more specifically, US) foreign policy where defending commercial interests seems to be far higher on the agenda than perhaps it should be in most decisions to go to war. The music gives a light-hearted, funky feel to what is a very serous subject. 'Imaginary Evidence' is billed as another instrumental track, but behind it are sound clips around the controversial decision of Blair to send troops to Iraq, and the questions over Saddam's 'weapons of mass destruction'. 'The Falling Man' is a poignant reflection on one the the most haunting images that came out of the events of 9/11, from the perspective of that man, and musically it begins with echoes for me of Pink Floyd's 'Nobody Home'. The album closer is another epic, 'The Greatest Freedom', which moves its focus to Helmand Province. We open with the sound of helicopters, then muted keyboards, as the narrative seems to flip between a young, naive soldier and a Jihadi warrior. A muezzin's call and the sound of  a dulcimer set the scene, as we settle on the soldier, as he makes his first patrol, always on the watch for ambush and IEDs - a watch he ultimately fails in: "My role in today’s patrol is to be on prime time on the BBC, to show the world the hidden danger, a victim of an IED" The soldier tells of his return to 'the land of my place of birth' where he is paraded through the streets of Wotton Bassett, draped in the Union Flag. For him, and maybe for his adversary, 'The greatest freedom it’s often said will come to us all when all else is dead.'

This is a thoughtful, keyboard-driven collection of songs that tackle to deeper issues around war in its modern context. Quite low-key overall, there are some uplifting moments, and Jon must be commended for the effort he has put into this project both in composition and performance. Every listen brings new insights and new delights, and I would heartily commend it to you. You can find it on Bandcamp here.