CD Review
Tim Di Pasqua - Monster Under These Conditions
1.
A Monster Under These Conditions 2. Maybe You Didn't Hear Me 3. As Famous As The Moon4. So Good 5. I Thought It Was You 6. Since Love's Come Around 7. Adventure
8. Waiting On Heaven 9. The Best That I Can Do 10. This Has Been A Wonderful Time 11. Nothing
Produced and Arranged by: Tim Di Pasqua TDMA 102
Ultimately, it’s the lyrics that are the driving force of Tim Di Pasqua’s debut album ‘Monster Under These Conditions’. Indeed even the album title suggests an unusual way with words for a lyricist, one which can render initially improbable phrases for a song perfectly musical, finessing an apparently inelegant turn of phrase into something highly expressive. All the songs on the album are Di Pasqua’s own compositions and there is a consistency of style and quality that suggest that this is a young man of considerable talent and potential.
Di Pasqua’s final composition on the album, ‘Nothing’, expresses a dualistic belief that all human activity breaks down into either "giving love or craving it". Needless to say, therefore, the works which comprise this collection seem to be written from one of those two perspectives. Thus in ‘I Thought It was You’, Di Pasqua gently emotes that "I only want to live together and make you feel good" whilst ‘As Famous As the Moon’ finds him unable to conceal his joy in the assuredness of the love he has found.
The lyrics of many of the songs in this collection work as much as prose as they do as poetry, reflecting the songwriter’s preference for longer phases and developing more sophisticated ideas. More often than not, the songs are densely packed, highly conversational and, in the case of the up tempo numbers, require the skill to sing at times at near breakneck speed. It is this aspect that makes this an album of particular interest to cabaret performers.
Di Pasqua, for one, is certainly up to the task as a vocalist and whilst the apparent ease with which he performs the material may be deceptive, singers looking for new repertoire will be encouraged to hear him deliver perfectly naturally a lengthy phrase such as "All alone in the darkness romanticising holding out for a sign and it seems that until then I’m just fantasising that one day you would be mine."
It would be wrong to infer that the primacy of the lyrics detracts in any way from the musicality of the work; Di Pasqua will write a strophic chorus when one is required and all the songs have a solid, traditional construction and are enhanced by full and satisfying, mostly soft rock arrangements. No doubt Di Pasqua will have his own list of musical influences, though in ‘Adventure’ one strong, possibly unconscious, source would seem to be ABBA, at least for the verse sections.
Adding to the ambiance are the contributions of guest vocalists, Lisa Asher, Capathia Jenkins Mayumi Harada and Tom Andersen, some fine instrumental work by guitarists Jay Condiotti and Tony James as well as saxophonist Danny Walenski.
This is an album that demands careful and unhurried listening but which offers rich rewards to those who take the time to pay attention to its lush, melodic feel and astute observations on love, whether given or craved.