All Over Everywhere: Inner Firmaments Decay

It is not often that I quote the press release which accompanies a CD. However with the debut release from All Over Everywhere, I have to be honest and say that while maybe not in the manner that was intended, the description of Inner Firmaments Decay sums up exactly how I feel about the music contained in its eight songs. The phrase "Since most of the songs were a bit dreary and melancholy, the design for the album was seven sad songs followed by one happy and uplifting song." Is almost a perfect illustration of how this album shapes up, I say almost because I wouldn't exactly call the last track "Gratitude" a playful or joyful little ditty, it is more that the effect is just slightly less dreary than what has come before.

Formed in 2007 by Dan Britton (Deluge Grander/Birds And Buildings) and classical/folk musician Trinna Kesner, the band has nine instrumentalists and a vocalist, who have been brought together by the main duo from their respective prog and classical backgrounds. What that has led to is the marrying of instruments such as guitar, keyboards and bass, with flute, viola, dulcimer and clarinet. In places ("Gratitude" being a case in point) it works with great building, atmospheric results, however across the initial seven tracks it is hard to honestly say that the music is wholly convincing. Too often the everything just trickles along and the vocals of Megan Wheatley become buried in the syrupy mass of melancholy. Wheatley possesses a quite wonderful voice that is seductive and serious in equal measure, but for the large part it feels like she is having to battle to be heard over some reasonably sparse arrangements. I can only presume that this was the intention when the album was mixed, however it does make for a frustrating and at times confusing listen.

It isn't all bad news and in short bursts (which may suit the "modern" listener), the songs are quite enjoyable. As a cohesive collection however the experience is just too one dimensional to hold the attention, or entice frequent revisits. Taken individually "Endless Night" is an atmospheric journey that brings together some swathes of gentle keyboards with lonely piano and little splashes of flute, while "Honesty" piles on the melancholy, but in a way where you feel at one with the sorrow of the sounds, but not saddened by them. That said, when you listen to even these stronger moments within forty minutes of similarly themed pieces, the "dreary melancholy" becomes too much to bear.

Inner Firmaments Decay does have some wonderful musicianship and well thought through arrangements across its eight tracks; however it would have been a much more interesting listen if even the faintest glimmer of light was allowed to pierce the gloom from time to time.

Track Listing
1. Art of the Earth
2. Endless Night
3. The Shroud
4. Honesty
5. After All the Years
6. On a Dark Street
7. Until the Sun Begins to Fall
8. Gratitude

Added: October 24th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: All Over Everywhere MySpace
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Language: english

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