A simple yet charming guitar melody begins this story, which is then set to motion by the following line: “I read my first self-help book in the third grade…” That’s the beginning of “Revenge”, an album full of personal thoughts put together by Ellery Twining.
Behind that alias is Rich Freitas, an artist, and multi-instrumentalist who has been in the rock music scene as a drummer for several bands for over 30 years. After a period of not making any music, an idea of making a record popped up – just making his own music without creating a band. And thus the alias Ellery Twinning came to fruition, the solo project under which he released the following album:
“Revenge”, released on January 17th, is an acoustic rock album housing 9 songs. The release strikes with an easy and rather stripped-back feel, especially in the first song “A Month of Sundays”, which begins with acoustic guitar and his mostly spoken vocals, speaking about a divorce through the eyes of a child. The honest, curious, and confused thoughts have been put into lyrics in such an endearingly simple way, whilst also making sure to hit straight in the feels.
The lyrics feel like they’ve been taken out from the artist’s personal diary, and he’s got a knack for writing them in a captivating way. There are deep philosophical thoughts applied to incidents that take place in everyday life. You get the quivering fearful afterthoughts following a closely witnessed car accident in “Let Me Die Onstage” and memories of mom’s new boyfriend and the argument that happened between them in “Civic Duty”.
Listening to the album feels like witnessing adult life through the eyes of someone who hasn’t lost sight of their inner wondering child. The mood of lyrics is taken further by the soft guitar-driven instrumentation, underlining the emotions spoken by his voice. “Middle Name” is one of those where the instruments really guide the mood. That song begins with a sad and disappointing note as it tells a terrifying story of a friend losing his leg in a traffic accident, and then when he got a prosthetic, the song took a turn to a progressively more optimistic side in a triumphant thought – he’s alive, and he is also able to walk.
It’s an album full of stories that are very personal by nature but represented in a way that connects to the listeners in an emotionally deep way. You can feel the emotions even without having similar experiences yourself, that’s how straight-forward he has managed to be, and at the same time, it’s a captivating story-time record, heartwarming at its core.
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This coverage was created via MusoSoup #Sustainablecurator