An immersive musical artwork that will send you on lines of personal discovery wrapped in poetry, melody and rhythm
Ropeadope RAD-796
Paula Jeanine Bennett (lyrics, vocals, percussion); Richard X Bennett (music, piano, melodica, production)
Recording location and dates not stated
This new album is the work of the Brooklyn-based creative couple Paula Jeanine Bennett and Richard X Bennett, both multidisciplinary artists. Paula Jeanine is a composer, musician, lyricist, visual and movement artist, often combining all of these disciplines within her projects; and Richard a pianist, composer and filmmaker with a number of jazz and electronica albums to his name on the Ropeadope and Ubuntu labels as well raga-themed releases on Indian labels.
Dance is at the heart of the creative process on this album, grounded in performance and spontaneous improvisation. It all started with Richard being asked to play keys for a post-modern dance class at the famous Juilliard School in New York City. From improvisations in response to the dancers’ movements and motion, melodies were developed and then lyrics added by Paula Jeanine.
Drawn from ideas generated in the moment through observation and response, the process of listening is something of a mirrored experience. For Amaryllis 2 is an immersive musical artwork that will send you on lines of personal discovery wrapped in poetry, melody and rhythm. The songs are described as being “primarily about love, pain and the natural world” and the album titled after the drammatic Amaryllis flower, which is variously associated with love, beauty, pride (for its tall upright stem), resilience and determination (for its winter-flowering properties).
The album has an ethereal, haunting feel with a fluidity that ebbs and flows around a consistent tempo that coalesces the work as a whole. The melodies are curiously fascinating with ideas built upon and expanded around moments of melodic resonance outlined by Richard’s piano, which has a nostalgic, slightly echoed quality that adds to the charm and mystery.
You will find yourself leaning in to catch Paula Jeanine’s expressive lyrics which are delivered with a fragile beauty of soft, breathy vocals. As sung pieces of poetry, you are left to ponder the meaning and personal relevance of each piece. And there is an insistent rhythm to many of the tracks, with Paula Jeanine also playing percussion, including congas, berimbau, dumbek and shakers.
The opener ‘Bittersweet’ sets the tone with autumnal themes and a personal reflection on the turning of the seasons. ’Golden Time’ brings some delightful piano motifs with vocals spiralling around. ‘The Writing’s on the Wall’ is something different, with more insistent vocals and a searching piano focused upon a recursive melody and repeated mantra, introducing the evocative berimbau.
On ‘In the Bright’ the piano is more the focal point with some wonderfully swirling touches across a steady beat. ‘The Poem is in my Step’ has a spiritual vibe, with spoken vocals amidst cascading glissandos and shimmering effects. ‘Grasslands’ brings more soulful vocals rolling out over a steady percussive rhythm and considered piano tones.
Paula Jeanine’s haunting vocals stay with you on ’And in Those Eyes’, delivering a plaintive emotional message. Melodica and piano weave a gently rolling melody on ’The Beauty of a Spring Night’ that lightens the heart, while ‘Portrait in Sepia’ is something darker, played as what sounds like a slowly brooding tango.
Amaryllis 2 is not background or mood music. You will actively want to engage and get lost in its world to spend some time in the company of these intriguing artists.
