Ayla Brook
Make reality out of press releases
Sometimes, a recording’s backstory precedes the recording itself.
You know what I’m talking about: such-and-such an album was recorded in only two days, or amidst strife between the frontman and lead guitarist, or in the midst of a month-long bender, or with only a tape deck and a monkey on drums. You get the idea. It’s the kind of thing which makes PR people sing with glee as they punch out their press releases, using those particular circumstances as “the hook” to get people talking about it. The consequence is the danger of having this excess information outweigh the actual artistic value of said recording.
According to Ayla Brook’s press people, the recording of his album After The Morning After took place in a Saskatchewan farm with everyone just sitting in a room with no isolated control room or special acoustic cloistering, performing amidst creaking floorboards, gusts of wind, and chirping avian wildlife.
Makes for a neat story, indeed, but becomes wholly justified when you consider that Brook’s masterful, melodic, intimate approach to folk is accomplished with great achievement. On a song like Wake Up Early, one quickly understands that Brook wants very little distance between performer and audience; his barebone, voice-and-guitar approach is as significant as the gentle, upbeat tone of the song and the mellifluous, charismatic, inviting manner his voice delivers his laid back lyrics. The drum-less environment (replaced by handclaps and foot stomping) successfully conveys the sought-for humble atmosphere, but without coming across as “corner-cutting,” instead cementing that “it’s just you and me” feeling which makes the song both approachable and endearing.
But it’s with the sudden clanking of (what sounds like) a plate plunking in audibly, and the following rascally giggle, that you feel like you were part of something special, sharing in a spontaneous straying moment, refreshingly buoying among the sea of pristine, sanctimoniously flawless recordings. Something personal. Something intimate. Something to back up the story; big time.
MP3: Ayla Brook - Wake Up Early
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