"The Fortress of Solitude" by The Session
Review
I'm the first to emphasise how much I'd like all the artists whom I write about to be able to become successful professionals.
That said, I acknowledge that the pressure to respond to perceived demographics & to produce new music regularly must impact on the creative process (it may stimulate it positively in some respects of course) and hence bands like The Session whose new single "The Fortress of Solitude" is out on May 2nd are able to let the songs come, work on them until perfection is achieved and maintain high quality control.
I'm pretty sure (to quote another local band) that they are in it "for the love not the money" and the outcome seems to be a succession of top notch songs which I understand why people might say surpass each other every time.
I'd certainly expect something great from them but the precise nature & character of "The Fortress of Solitude"? Could I have predicted that? No way.
The band always sound Big due to the nature of the performances of the individuals: it's their nature. Many songs sound "epic" irrespective of actual duration. However this time round, they've definitely pushed the boat out as the song is both long (six and a half minutes) and Dean informs me that there are fifteen distinct instruments involved before you even consider the vocals. No wonder he told me that "we threw the kitchen sink at it".
There are of course bands who'd do that sort of thing as a matter of course and deservedly get labelled as "bloated" but quite apart from their skill in only releasing music they're totally happy with, The Session always keep the "taste" button depressed & if there is something on a track it's because it needs it.
It's probably going to be called their "best ever" and though they have plenty of others which I am attached to, who am I to argue about this one getting the accolade.
There are two very obvious potential problems with a song which this much going on & both impact on others. Firstly someone has to sing over the top of it all and someone else has to sort out all the sounds so the concoction is neither a mess nor that any instruments are so buried that including them was wasted.
Well the first one is sorted because they have Sheryl to sing & you should all by now know the glories of her voice. It's a most impressive phenomenon and given that one of the last times I saw her, she sang as well as ever but afterwards her speaking voice (which appears to have a separate existence) was giving her trouble, so there is a delicacy there which moments like that makes one more appreciative of.
In fact Dean advises that some of what the casual listener may assume to be synth parts are again her voice: hitting high harmonies.
In terms of the other set of challenges, the song is produced by longer term collaborator Matt Waddell of 14 Records: a most experienced master of the helpful overdub & perhaps even more importantly, one who knows the band and their music so well and can intuit not just what their song needs but what the band are thinking.
I've said it before, but I have no option but to repeat myself here, that The Session tend to only come up with songs on big subjects: not for them the petty or insubstantial. Therefore it's not that surprising how the music grows to encompass the lyrics and "The Fortress of Solitude" certainly grows. It takes the opportunities inherent in its length to build inexorably. If I say that it gets a bit operatic then I hope they don't mind: I certainly don't want to suggest any pretension on their part. Equally, the term "diva" has shifted from an accolade to put down over the years, but if anyone locally is fitted to the term in its original sense, then it's Sheryl. It's not just about size & range of voice but also about presence & size of heart.
And the song is really a "heart" song, as psychological as it is philosophical. If they've been building towards creating it, then I'd venture also to suggest that a band earlier in their career could not have come up with "The Fortress of Solitude": it's a song of experience & reflection.
"The Fortress of Solitude" will be launched on May 2nd at a special screening of its video on the big screen at the LTB Showrooms at the Priory Visitor Centre in Coventry from 1600 with donations of £3 (to fund the charity who run the venue) requested.
