Sun Child Pariah's newest album, "Songs of the Orchid," promises to play out the music of human feeling, from innocence to despair and finally to hope and triumph. It claims so in its liner notes and its overly pretentious lyrics drive the point home.
Sun Child Pariah is a trio out of Boston, with Jeff Lagrone on bass and vocals, William Neveitt on percussion (as well as other instruments) and Chokdee Rutirasiri on guitar and lead vocals.
To the credit of Sun Child Pariah, the progression between the various human emotions is quite evident in the different moods that each song creates. If the listener regards the album in its entirety as one tapestry of human emotional growth and progression, the movement can be heard musically, in the changing tempos and chords, and lyrically, in the alternating innocent, frustrated and then calming words.
The CD begins with the song "Reservations." In this song the "human heart" is supposed to reveal its innocence. It is the child singing who adamantly believes that, as "Reservations" says, "tonight we shall be as one." The instrumental background is quite impressive, it is only the vocalist, Rutirasiri, that keeps me from embracing this song, as well as most of the album.
The feeling of innocence is clearly portrayed, so perhaps it is the intention of the Rutirasiri to not sing in a completely developed, supported and musical voice. This, however, is one of the frustrations of the album -- it is never quite clear if the vocalist is intentionally singing in this way to contribute to the mood, or if he simply cannot sing any better.
The album proceeds with the songs, "Ghostown," "Coal Merchant March" and "Eve's Hollow." In these songs the mood of human emotional growth is developed. The human heart demonstrates its emotions of loneliness, doubt and the realization of a love that may never be fully attained.
In "Angels From Afar" the vocalist changes, and the new voice of the very musical and soulful Lagrone is much appreciated, for it is in this song that we finally hear the music that the trio is capable of. All of the elements necessary for a truly exceptional song come together to produce a mood of quiet tranquility and peace.
In this song, and in the ones that follow it, the album, and hence the human heart, are finally resolved. As the final song, "Joy" says. "...run on child, to the arms that our song has played -- love."
Personally, I prefer music that is pleasing to the ear and too many of the songs on this album contain grating and dissonant cords for me to fully enjoy it. However, they must be congratulated for pulling together an album that fully embraces and reveals human emotion.
Musically, some of the pieces contain repetitive and unimaginative phrases, and the primary lead vocalist, Chokdee Rutirasiri, does not add to the musical quality of the album. Otherwise the two songs in which Jeff Lagrone sings, "Angels From Afar" and "Core" are great pieces, full of rich sound and interesting harmonies.
Their greatest asset is their unique sound and imaginative purpose of appealing to raw human emotion. For the most part, these three men succeeded in their mission of putting together an interesting, innovative and musical tapestry for the human heart. It's just not all that pleasant to listen to.
