There has been several classic issues from Mary Fahl since her departure from the bewitching band, October Project. Her contralto voice is a unique one, easily memorable. What it brought to October Project, it lavished on her solo releases. To date, Mary Fahl has released an EP of four songs, Lenses Of Contact (2000), and two full-length gems in The Other Side Of Time (2003), and the elusive but mesmerizing re-imagining of Pink Floyd’s timeless classic, The Dark Side Of The Moon , her version called From The Dark Side Of The Moon (2011).
Three of the four songs found on Lenses Of Contact found their way on the Sony Classical/Odyssey debut, The Other Side Of Time. But the press and Fahl’s many fans took her new full-length album to heart christening it as one of the best releases of the year with its collection of stand-alone tracks. One song from this album (“I’m Going Home”) was planted in the film, Gods And Generals (2003) to stunning effect. I was personally stunned by its beauty. My 2003 review of the album was full of praise. And it’s still an album that I continue to listen to ten years later indicating its long lasting effect on my own consciousness.
Many years later, From The Dark Side Of The Moon provided us a chilling re-styling of The Dark Side Of The Moon and its classic tracks. That album was planned to be released by V2 Records, but the demise of that label shelved the album for a long time. Eventually, Mary Fahl regained complete control and released the album, again to high praise. It’s an album to hear. With Fahl’s unique voice, the songs take on a mysterious life.
On February 11, Mary Fahl will release her latest album, Love And Gravity. This album has been on the horizon for some time. In fact, you have seen a previous announcement by me in these pages months ago. But the wait is now over.
Love And Gravity contains ten new tracks that include “Exiles – The Wolves Of Midwinter”. That song was written for the spoken set of Anne Rice’s latest novel, The Wolves Of Midwinter. That’s right, Anne Rice is a huge fan of Mary Fahl, who calls Fahl’s voice “…supernatural”. The album also contains a hypnotic cover of “Both Sides Now”, the classic Joni Mitchell song.
Mary Fahl is a powerful artist with a compelling voice, and an ability to write deep lyrics and craft timeless songs pf her own. The depth and spread of The Other Side Of Time will not soon diminish despite its release some ten years ago. Each of the album’s fourteen tracks are unique triumphs all their own. If you haven’t heard it, I highly suggest you remedy that now…today.
Unfortunately, these times are different musically. Artists are not as honored for their music as they used to be. I fully believe that if Mary Fahl had released her music back in the ’60s, and ’70s, her fame would be immense.
Thanks for showcasing yet another great find for me. After listening to samples (gads, the Internet DOES have its usefulness at times) I’ve ordered the October Project and her two previous solo works. Like the Smoke Fairies that you alerted me to awhile back, this will be another one of my favourites I’m sure. Keep up the good work!
Bob, always my pleasure. I have loved Mary from her October Project days. Her The Other Side of Time album is listened to by me often. And it was released over ten years ago. Enjoy her talent.
Actually for a first time listener to the project et al, like me, I really loved the October Project Covered record. It really put a new slant on some of the tracks. For example, if you listen to the 2 Adam amp; Eves, they are truly both fantastic, and very different. Thanks Matt, this is a very real addition to my collection. Love amp; Gravity has been available in the UK for a while now, and is MF’s best release, IMHO. I’m just not a big fan of her Both Sides Now. The best cover of that song is the Clannad/Paul Young version.