by Keyth Lawrence and The Purple Circle
I Said! Records
www.keythlawrence.com
Keyth will probably – and with good reason – be on a lot of top ten lists this year. Figures is a “rock with a bit of culture to it” CD. in that it sounds like Keyth has had some classical training. NYC based Lawrence wrote all the music and lyrics, and performs with his band The Purple Circle: Susan Bruno, Peter Cunningham, Dave Rodriguez, and Kevin Torres. Other singers and musicians appear in guest spots.
So what’s cool about it?
Musically, he’s got a deft hand in changing moods or just reaching the unexpected note. It’s intriguing to see follow the chord progression and subtle mixing of ideas as he seamlessly goes from minor to major (as in “Leaving”), from classical to pop (as in “Skylar’s Ride) or in many numbers, halts the action to start a slow section, then brings it all together at the end with a recap.
Lawrence plays keys, and there’s a piano lead throughout most of the songs. Of course, some songs are better’n others. My fave of the album is actually one he did on his own, the final cut called “Orbital.” This time, he’s effective more by not changing chords, but rather by staying around the home key. It features some fine keyboard playing and some country-music type voice twanging. Anyway, it’s super.
Lyrics are… well… odd. Not "bad"... just "odd." I guess you could say "out there". They’re also printed in real tiny type on a dark background and hard to read, which is too bad, since they’re already a bit hard to figure out.
Words to these songs resonate in the subconscious perfectly even if they make no sense to us in the brain up front – they conjure up the emotion and the image without, necessarily, the situation.. “Mary, you’re full of grace, and I’m full of anesthesia, and I can’t tell the fishing hooks from the Vaseline,” is the report from “Orbital.” You tell me. But, it works.
Most of these deal with relationships in some unconventional manner: “89 of You” is a bluesy number about a failed affair with a married guy. “Here In Theory” is a nostalgic ballad with a wistful guitar lead that occasionally sounds like a mandolin. “It seems we’ll drink to anything these days,” he pines. You can almost see him sitting across from the ex, or the hoped-for, wishing things were different.
Some songs fare better than others, but this one's a winner.
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