Tuesday, January 21, 2003
What Sound
posted by John Davies at 10:10 PM
The other joy yesterday was listening to Lamb on the headphones most of the way there and back, their sound became so addictive.
I don't really have the language to describe Lamb's music; I'll use what the critics have said - it's chilled-out, it's brooding, atmospheric, beautiful. Time Out said of new album What Sound, "A flawless blend of baffled beats and lush, soulful melodicism." That'll do me.
I've liked them since I first encountered them onstage at Greenbelt a few years ago; yesterday it came to me that that's partly because their music carrys a positive spirituality. So it comes as no surprise to me to find them explaining on their website that the wonderful song 'Gabriel' is inspired by Islamic religious poet Rumi, and, according to lyricist Louise Rhodes, is about "having a big love for a particular human being, where you're just very glad that they're somewhere out there in the world."
And there is ÔJust IsÕ. The blurb calls it a song of Ôspacious beautyÕ, which Louise wrote after returning to the rudeness of modern life after her first Zen meditative retreat. In it she describes a transformation, an epiphany: ÒItÕs about the process of letting go of the idea that weÕre in control of our lives, because at the end of the day, we are just these minute creatures afloat in this huge universeÓ:What kind of fool am I
reaching into a world I thought I might have changed
Somehow rearranged
Yet here I am
Stepping into the night
Like a keenly sharpened knife
Carving holes into my life
When I know that ...
What is
Just is
What is
Just is
You see IÕve been somewhere
Not far away but such a different space
And to sit in one place.
And just when I thought I could take no more
The bells started to ring
And my soul to sing
And I know that ...
What is
Just is
What is
Just is (To hear Lamb tracks, click here)
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john davies
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