One day, I
hope to sit down with
Derek Shuurman over a
pint and work out his
inner mind. My intrigue
is as to whether he has a
highly developed creative
and dark imagination, or
if he comes from a
twisted and disturbed
place where the music of
SOKI2U reflects a journey
on the dark and
depressive side of
humanity.
If
you think suicide,
loneliness, depravity,
destruction, the
macarbre, isolation,
break-downs, sorrow,
pity, despair, hate,
madness, insanity and
hell, then your about
half way there.
One can
easily make the mistake
that such arrangements
will appeal only to EMOS, (emotional
gothic types), but the
appeal is wide ranging
and transfixing. There is
a healthy sense of
realism in the subject
matter and a grounding
that life is not perfect.
We all know people who
suffer, and most of us at
some time have climbed
our own physical, mental
or emotional 'Everests.'
'Seeing
Faces' is not 'dinner
party' material, so I
approached this one with
a bottle of whisky, a
darkened room and
isolation.
Track
1. DEATH
BY INTENTION:
(Words & music: Derek
Schuurman, 2005)
The
obvious sense of despair
and a downwards spiral
into a cycle of total
disempowerment, loss of
identity and self esteem,
where the only feelings
of release and last
expression of control is
in the taking of ones own
life, whether on purpose
or by accident in terms
of drug overdose.
The song
was partly written to
reflect the demise of
Marilyn Munroe and her
downward spiral through a
celebrity obsessed
society and those who
controlled her, stripping
her of her humanity,
personality and
individuality, leaving
her in a place that she
had no fight to return.
I have no
doubt that a more modern
example is Amy
Whinehouse, whose very
public demise reflects
another tortured and
depressive soul. You can
sense the chunks being
taken out of her by her
'controllers' and those
who have money rather
than compassion at the
centre of their thinking.
In 'Death
by Intention', the
'controllers' and
'oppressors' are
represented by pigs,
where swans represent
warnings to innocent
parties.
For me, OPEN
WINDOW (Track
2), COLD TOWN (Track
4) and PEYOTE
(Track 7) represent a
return to the best of
SOKI2U. Clear concise and
precise lyrics backed up
with intelligent
arrangement with a
complexity that almost
comes across as
deceptively simple.
'Open
Window' achieved a number
1 spot on the Bands
Unsigned Chart, and
refers to suicide. The
acoustic provides a deep
and melancholy tone
whilst the vocals
brilliantly takes you to
some real lows, but then
introduces a sense of
optimism as a person
struggles within a
relationship and finds
the will to walk past the
open window to keep on
going with life.
In
my interpretation of
'Cold Town', it reflects
a total lack of community
cohesion and well being
with society and urban
areas. With people's
lives full of self
interest, there is little
time demonstrated for
communities and those who
live close to you. This
lack of care causes the
slow demise of the
environment with crime
taking hold.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist
Mart Giebner,
performing his song
Cold Town on 8 June
2008 in London
The track
is very poignant to
modern life, where people
barely seek eye contact,
never mind speak to each
other. In a cold town,
the social signals
between people are lost
leading to isolation and
people feeling cold and
lonely in a crowd.
With
Peyote, the demo peaks
half way through with
this experimental rock
track. It sits
independently of the
general theme of the EP,
and perhaps acts as an
intermission, like you
would find in two halves
of a theatre performance
or opera. it is a bit of
a wake up and pulls you
away from some of the
depths of sorrow that
were experienced in the
first part of the EP.
Charl
Jean Bouwer aka Peyote
The
three demos of OPEN
WINDOW, COLD
TOWN and PEYOTE
present a wonderful
mixture of introspection
and life reflecting tunes
that really dig deep. I
would be hard pushed to
point out any weak
moments particularly with
the clear
thought-provoking lyrics
providing the imagery and
strong sense of
connection with the
themes.
A
superb balance of
emotions is maintained
throughout the EP with
the instrumentals of Nothing
Unknown (Track
5), Alone With
His Memories (Track
6), Not Giving Up
(Track 9), Regards
to Roxy (Track
11).
Paris-based
composer David Floc'hlay
'consulting' with his
guitar.
NOTHING
UNKNOWN is
sublime in its light,
dreamy and trance like
mood. With music by,
Brendan Lynch, it
provides an air of
sophistication and a
welcome change in
emotional state. The link
is nothing but genius
with the following track
'Alone with his memories'
because this is exactly
the atmosphere that has
been created. A deep
reflection on the inner
soul and the exploration
of perhaps both contented
and sad times.
Another
interesting and engaging
level to the EP is
provided through the
influences of Ran Wang
and Sarah Panton.
Ran
Wang performing live in
London.
In 'YOU'RE
TEARING OUT MY HEART',
(Track 8), Ran
demonstrates that music
transcends language.
Without any
understanding, it remains
a delightful demo, full
of expression and life.
It presents for me a
sense of optimism in an
otherwise troubled world.
Perhaps a chance at a new
beginning and a light at
the end of the tunnel.The
melody for me comes
across as very positive
and contrary to what the
demo title suggests.
However, that is the
intrique in being
presented with a demo
within the mix of the EP
with lyrics that I just
don't understand.
VALANTINE,
(Track 10), has for me a
'Kate Bush' feel about
it. There is an unusual
blend between the vocals
and instrumental. This
works perfectly and
provides an open, airy
and tranquil feel to it.
As an emotional quality,
it again provides the
welcomed contrast to the
darker side of the EP.
Sarah's voice is
transfixing and has a
ghost like quality to it.
Perhaps
the only track on the EP
that doesn't find favour
with me is INWANITY
(track 3). It grates on
all my nerves in the same
way that scratching
fingernails down a chalk
board would. As an
abstract piece it for me
just exists and I can't
connect or find the value
in it. When it plays, it
snaps me out of my
introverted bubble with a
sense of irritation. Of
course, those with wider
imaginations may argue
that to grate the nerves
is all part of the
overall experience and
just another emotional
part of the journey. This
may be a valid point, as
in the contect of the EP
it may have its place as
almost a thorn in the
side. However, on its
own, it would be off my
play list.
The EP
concludes with three
significant Demos, 'A
CIRCLE OF SORROW'
(Track 12), 'PASSED
ON' (Track 13),
and 'SEEING FACES'
(Track 14).
A Circle
of Sorrow has been fully
reviewed on this site and
can be read
here
'The
Red Club Scene in the
darkly
introspective Stephane
Floc'hlay film Cissenar,
from which two songs on
the album appear: Derek's
'A Circle of Sorrow' and
David Floc'hlay's 'Alone
With His Memories'. The
scene brings to mind
images of
the depraved
'Partyland' scene
in David Lynch film
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk
With Me and the infamous
'ritual scene' in
Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide
Shut'. The
lone dancer is also
possibly alluded to in
Sarah
Panton's 'Inwanity'.
'
PASSED
ON, (Words and
music: Charl Jean
Bouwer), is about someone
holding the hand of a
dying person, and feeling
that last moments of that
persons life. The demo
adds a window into the
potential supernatural
and spirit world as the
person moves on.
SEEING
FACES ends the
journey with a sense of
mystery and slowly brings
you back to the real
world. I emerged from my
isolation feeling
emotional but in a
balanced state of
reflection. I was a
little surprised to find
that I wasn't lost in the
depths of despair as I
had expected at the
start, as overall the EP
was perfectly balanced
and at times positive and
uplifting. The feel of
the demo took you to
dark, mysterious and
frightening places and
then at times to a bar /
cavana atmosphere and
then even a concert hall.
On a
personal level I am no
stranger to many of the
life issues that SOKI2U
tap into, so I expected
to relate to the EP and
in most cases I did.
However, at times I had
to work hard to fully
understand and keep up
with the twists and turns
and the very abstract
nature of some of the
demos.
SOKI2U
are very brave,
experimental and
innovative in their
approach. They don't
appear to have a strong
band identity with a
number of guest and
international artists
adding to the mix.
Instead, they base their
music on themes and a
concept that runs through
their art. Their music
represents a journey
rather than a spoon
feeding of information.
For it to work, you have
to connect with it. The
advantage of this is that
if you do connect, it
really works in an
incredibly powerful way.
However, as it is not
designed for popular
appeal, the danger is
that many people won't
buy into it and could be
turned off very quickly
and not give the EP a
chance.
I really
like the ethos of SOKI2U
and admire them for their
creativity. Too many
albums are little more
than storage containers
for a bunch of songs you
just like, mixed with
bland fllers. Seeing
Faces breathes its own
life and if it hooks you
in quickly and demands
that you listen
uninterrupted from start
to finish.
In
conclusion, I can only
but admire SOKI2U for
their originality,
talent, clear vision and
creativity. Everyone
should sit back quietly
and listen to Seeing
Faces and during
that time, see what
journey it takes them on.
One thing is for sure, it
will be unique and
individual experience for
everyone.
