"Allesley Park" by The Eyes of Isabel
Review
"Allesley Park" is not only the name of a Coventry amenity, but that of the latest Eyes of Isabel single which arrived yesterday, in the principle format of the latest narrative video from film maker Andy McGeechan: through the prism of which most people will probably ascertain what the song is about: though as noted in previous reviews of the band, extra levels of meaning do get added by the director which may or may not have been within the intentions of composer & band founder Tony Ally. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlpqbGyy4co
Created as ever at Woodbine Studios in Leamington, producer John Rivers provided most of the instrumental sounds bar Sam Thomas' guitar & adds his backing vocals to Tony's lead. John also suggested an orchestral build-up for the middle eight deploying "an army of cellos".
The song is a romantic one set in.. well you guessed where, keeping the lyrical sentiments simple and to the point, being quite universal in the main, though the precise specificity of the location, while adding authenticity to the song can no doubt be translated to similar places round the world as applying to each individual listener & the environments in which they experienced like emotional events.
The music, as suggested by my previous comments, elevates the simplicity to more epic heights: we get a big rock guitar solo after the orchestra has lifted the affair.
Where Andy's part comes in is largely through the interpolation of a robot theme: both models & an ambulant one (apparently that's regular Eyes of Isabel actor Tracey Gillan under the robot costume which it took them three afternoons to construct) accompanying Tony through the park and which he saves from an assassination attempt by a figure who seems out of previous cinematic Eyes of Isabel videos. None of this is really explicit in the actually lyrics (though the idea of saving one's loved one might be implied) and at a guess I'd say might have been inspired in Andy's imagination by an electronic musical section mid way through the song.
Wherever it comes from, as always with the package Tony, John & Andy and their teams serve you, the layers of story & feeling can be taken separately or in layer cake form for a richer texture.
