Tortoise and Hair

Tortoise and Hair’s second album Front Row Seat is now available!
tortoisehair-booklet1

Look for it at CDbaby, dig station, itunes, and amazon.

There are 14 tracks on the album. Here are some brief notes about the songs:
For the opening track, Traveling Song, Adrienne (the Hair) dug deep into her Celtic roots and produced a lyric about our travels from Florida to California to Georgia looking for a place to settle and call ‘home.’ Ultimately, though, it’s not where you are, but who you’re with that makes the difference. This song is laced through with a finger-style guitar part echoing the vocal theme. The beautiful accordion playing of Simo Tesla emerges to the lead for an interlude. Marlon Patton does great work on the drums, bringing out the ethnic feel of the piece.
“Fault Line ‘09” is the heir of a previous ‘Fault line’ released on our first album. Many of the lyrics are the same, but it’s set to a different tune and different changes. The southern rock-ish guitar riff against a big two-beat feel on the drums creates a powerfully austere atmosphere, allowing the listener to be properly disturbed by the lyric. Between haunting verses and choruses, Steve Cunningham delivers a devilish slide solo. The song makes its way home with a total breakdown, exposing a finger-style guitar solo, with other instruments gradually creeping back in, building into total pandemonium before the final hits.

“Watching the World Fall Apart” conjures 30’s era rural blues, with its earthy opening guitar theme and deliciously relaxed groove. The lyrics are therapy for anyone staying up at night worrying about the stock market. The listener is invited to be revived and inspired by the events of today’s world, particularly the financial disasters we hear so much about; the point being that the future is still up for grabs. Anything can happen. Some poignant jazz piano adds a twist to the second half of the tune.

The fourth track, ‘Confessor’ tells the story of a relationship, in which a man pursues a woman first in a condescending way in regards to her faith, but over time comes to need her and seek her help. All along he seeks to dump the burdens of his conscience and escape himself; he looks for a confessor. The melody glides on a driving ¾ pulse, the texture building and relaxing throughout. Carol Statella sings on the viola, duet-ing with the accordion for an instrumental interlude.

The album now takes a turn inward with the intimate ‘Big Picture,’ a portrait of one’s feelings of futility and vanity when all cosmic forces seem to work against his efforts for personal progress. The band lays out on this tune, leaving only guitars, percussion, and, of course, sweetly harmonized voices telling you that you will, in fact, be fine when all is said and done.

Having put you at peace, the mood turns again with ‘Voice of the Wind’ prophesying evils of the future and the past. The lyric alludes to race in this country offering the perception that tension and mutual distrust, far from becoming healed, might actually be getting worse. The dark acoustic guitar and the military snare paint a picture of foreboding and unease. The electric screams high above with twisted thoughts and feelings. In the end, the song calls us all to our knees in repentance.

‘No One Else in the World’ lightens the mood again with a view of love blossoming not about of brokenness and neediness but as an overflow of completeness. The opening verses describe self-fulfillment in having written one’s one song and painted one’s own scene. The following verses express the desire to share those expressions. Finger picking guitar and lush viola neatly dress this simple happy tune.

‘Superhero’ is a song about someone who has become an inspiration to us. This person pays close attention to detail and is quite particular about things others might ignore. We’ve come to interpret these traits as expressions of profound optimism. It is only the cynic who deems certain choices or tasks to minute or mundane to merit attention. Like many of these tunes the song originates from a guitar riff, this one played in a Leonard Cohen triplet style. Several percussion voices create a loose groove, which Marlon at one point likened to ‘an earthy cash register.’

‘All I Could Do’ brings the full band back eliciting a jazzy 5/4 groove. The lyric tells of the trial of knowing someone who can’t or won’t know you back. Voices trade verses and choruses, creating the sense of an inner and an outer persona. Piano takes the lead, as the piece modulates up a whole step.

‘Forever Yours’ starts with a look at the innocent beginnings of young love and goes on to show how two deeply committed individuals will not let time and the trials of life break them. Though they each grow and change over time, they evolve together, making the bond stronger with every passing year. The light and airy feel created by the rhythm section supports subtle and unique melodic phrasing in the verse, giving way to a fuller and more intense chorus. The piece concludes with a polyrhythmic vamp, suggesting the complexities of life combined with the passage of time.

‘Lady Midnight’ is a foe posing as a friend, staying over late into the night and keeping you awake, filling your head with gossip, worries, and fears that you’d be better off without having heard. This song tells the story of fighting off the demon of doubt, as the hours of the night slip away. The rhythmic meter varies every few measures, cradling the lyrics and propelling you forward. Piano, guitar, and accordion textures ebb and flow throughout.

The theme remains centered on fear and doubt with the latin-esque pulse of ‘Limbo’. The song describes the condition of being far removed in time from one’s defining moments and from one’s spiritual landmarks. Wandering in the dark without the encouragements and reinforcements so heavily heaped on in youthful days, tenuously held faith is all one has as a guide. Though withered and worn the voice of the song refuses to give in and vows to persevere through spiritual limbo. Baritone guitar, B3 organ, an assortment of percussion, and even a few vocal lines in Hebrew all make contributions.

Anyone who has ever wanted life just to slow down will indentify with the second to last track, ‘For Once in my Life’. This light swing number expresses the yearning to just escape, with a loved one of course, from the incessant deadlines and commitments of life. Guitar lays the foundation for this tune, steadily chomping out the quarter note pulse, while the piano playfully bounces in and out.

‘Just Another Road’ quietly closes the album in a simple, solo voice and guitar format. On the surface, this song appears as a break-up story. The secret behind it though, is that it was inspired by a career change, rather than a romantic ending, but the experience carried intense emotional torrents nonetheless. The guitar again employs a Leonard Cohen style triplet feel, supporting the relaxed paced vocal phrasing.

Contributors to this album include:

Dustin Cottrell (Tortoise): Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Keyboards
Adrienne Cottrell (Hair): Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Joe Reda: Bass Guitar
Steve Cunningham: Electric Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Lap Steel
Marlon Patton: Drums, Percussion
Simo Tesla: Accordion
Carol Statella: Viola
Bert Elliott: Sound Engineering
Ben Hofer: Graphic Design

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:10 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.