“A Place to Go When You Need to Hide” is a concept album about the high highs and low lows of life and how these can be difficult to navigate without losing ourselves in them, and how we have a place inside of ourselves where we can go when the world gets to be too much where we can stop for a moment of peace and, from here, actively choose how we want to move forward through whatever circumstances life presents us with.
It is loosely based on the Victor Frankl quote, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. And in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our responses. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
The songs were written during the worst parts of covid amid massive political unrest and racial tension in the US, an uptick in school shootings and the onset of Russia’s war on Ukraine, among other issues. These events also coincided with difficulties in my personal life including leaving (and later returning to) my career as a veterinarian after a massive period of burnout and being diagnosed with long-term post-infectious Lyme disease. Lyrically, the album chronicles parts of my own path as I navigated through this period of darkness. – Taken from Bandcamp
This #featurefriday is by Rose Alaimo a singer songwriter one lady band from Ithaca NY. There’s a very present post grunge sound here. I hear The Cranberries, Kirsty McColl and REM- imagine that but with real crashing guitars. The brittle synths that drift in and punctuate the atypical backline on guitars, bass and drums. There’s a real Michael Stipe stype confessional quality, that poetry to the words but underpinned with the right choices. 2nd track, “Stars” is really indicicative of this. It has a hymnal feel to it, it lilts almost Gaelic/Celtic with it’s sense of space and beautifully delivered vocals, the military stares and the subtly picked guitars. It’s a lush recording, it really is.
Stars gives way to a real stamper that takes in early britpop mixed with glam rock leads and that first round of REM. Probably my favourote track lifted by the drums and the synths burt the thing that sells it are the vocals.Catcty as fuckery! And then, it drops and you have banjo. Confidence to do that, you can’t buy. And then as soon as we hit that we’re out and into the song again.
“The Devil That You Know” gives my Handsome Family vibes, maybe a splash of Calexico. Again great production and that use of space. If feels a little Waterboys in parts. Excellently done.
The whole album is great, utilizing a great many instruments that are all expertly manipulated. Vocals are a real treat. Emotionally it is raw and pure and honest. This is a real fucking gem.
Do you self a favor and go and listen.
Now.
Do it now.
This is a very hard album for me to pick a favorite song from. Every track is excellent. As great as the harder hitting songs on this album are, this time I’m choosing the quietest one as my favorite. The first time I heard “Stars,” I was struck by how interesting it was to put a military march in the background of a lullaby!
Reading her description of the piece, Rose said that the album was created during a particularly difficult time in her life, and the lyrics reflect this very well. There is sorrow, frustration and anger, but also melancholia, passion and joy. Incidentally, the albums last song “Here I Am” talks about just these different emotional states, how situational they are and how we can adapt to them.
A topic that requires a certain degree of life experience and maturity to convey correctly, and Rose manages to pass this requirement flawlessly. Overall, I enjoyed this album top to bottom tremendously, and can recommend it very, very highly to everyone willing to get taken on an emotional roller coaster. A truly great piece of work!
Previously
The Nirvana Fallacy (or, Mania and Her Sophomore Slump) – Saint Louie
- #FeatureFriday – 1991 by Maisie Marra
- “Muay Thai Bag” by Foxcall
- A Place To Go When You Need To Hide by Rose Alaimo
- #FeatureFriday – And the Bones by Dr. Organ
- #FeatureFriday WIENER DEMEANOR by Cheer Captain
- #FeatureFriday – Effusion by Sweet Freeze
- Beginings Revisted by Jim France
- Recording in Progress by Aaron Smith
- Believer, a.k.a. The Last Shall Be the First
- Scrapyard Boyz: Ultra Despair Duo – Grizzly, Slogan
- The Nirvana Fallacy (or, Mania and Her Sophomore Slump) – Saint Louie
- The Cocker Spaniels Are Still Alive, And So Are You
- X by Everything’s a Crime
- Take to The Streets by Eparapo
- Ashenheart – Faded Gold
- Underground by Trina Chakrabarti
- Happy New Year #Feature Friday
- Adrift by Angry Blue Planet
- Hells Bells – Dallas Orbiter’s Spaceman Things
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