Spotlight CD Review
Everyone Has A Story - The Songs of Adryan Russ
‘Life’, says Adryan Russ in one of the 15 songs featured on this showcase for her work, ‘is not a science, it’s an art’. Though those precise words may have been penned by her co-lyricist Doug Harvey, there is no doubting the exuberant and romantic spirit that pervades the songs on this album. Russ’ romanticism is the type that believes in the boundless possibilities of human achievement, in the ability of the spirit to overcome the greatest adversity. Thus in Adryan Russ’ world, everyone does indeed have a story, anyone can achieve ‘great things’. Those seeking well-written songs of positive affirmation would do well to listen Joan Ryan and Juliana Ashley Hansen’s delivery of the opening two tracks, the latter with music written by Brad Ellis.
Not that Adryan Russ doesn’t sometimes remove the rose-tinted spectacles; her composition, ‘The Better Love Is, The Worse It Is When It’s Over’ sung here by David Burnham, tells its own tale of the down side of love. For an even more cynical take on relationships, sample the delightful ‘Friends’, sung here by three singers but just as effective if delivered solo. Russ can write the blues, too, with Sharon McNight’s version of her ‘I Slip Into This Place’ particularly evocative, a new song that somehow manages to sound like a classic from another age. Meanwhile, Barbara Deutsch has great fun with ‘Them’, a song that any cabaret singer who has reached that certain age when not only the police officers but also the judges seem to be getting younger, would be crazy to ignore the laughter they would generate by including it in their act.
Russ’s songs are solidly constructed, well written for the voice and abound with inventive lyrics. Whilst one or two phrases may seem a touch trite or even familiar (…your hand is in my hand…, …couldn’t love you better if I tried…, …so come the dawn, I’ll be gone…) there are also innumerable clever turns of phrase and daring rhymes (…an infinite moment…, …what matters are matters of the heart…) and the outrageous rhyming of ‘quasi’ with ‘Haagen-Daaz ice’ that lift the songs in which they feature above the ordinary. There may not be a great song here, perhaps because they tend to be either upbeat and optimistic or reflective and sad; one feels that a bitter-sweet twist added to a couple of these pieces could mark them out as potential standards, ‘What He Can Do With Words’ a rather sickly sweet love song in its present form (could even Mrs Brolin sing this with conviction?) might become a multi-layered masterpiece if it had a sting in its tail.
Whether you’re a cabaret patron (or booking agent) eager to hear a whole raft of highly talented singers on one album or a performer in search of new material that can make your audience laugh, cry or sigh out loud, you would be well-advised to make time in your schedule and space in your CD rack for this refreshing and entertaining album.