Review by Brian Olewnick
While the blues had always been a presence in Galas' work, The Singer was the first time she presented them on their own and she did so in a stark manner, with only herself on voice and keyboards. Her piano playing is fairly harsh and jagged, almost evoking a reined-in Cecil Taylor. But it's her vocal work that fans are interested in, and here she strikes an often awkward balance between her natural bent toward extreme stylings and the more conservative forms that the material tends to require. On several of the pieces with little in the way of melodic hooks, she speak-sings through, adding typically ornate embellishments that do little to enhance the earthiness of the matter at hand. She succeeds more often when the song has an inherently captivating theme, as on "Gloomy Sunday," where alas' sense of drama and pathos works wonderfully. The highlight, though, is her reworking of "Let My People Go" into a thoroughly chilling hymn to the victims of AIDS. The Singer is one of the more accessible entry points into Diamanda Galas' world, if a slightly confining one that only hints at her greater gifts.
lyrics printed on the insert card:
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Let My People Go
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
The Devil has designed my death
and he's waiting to be sure
that plenty of his black sheep die
before he finds a cure
O Lord Jesus, do you think i've served my time?
The eight legs of the Devil now are crawling
up my spine.
The firm hand of the Devil now
is rocking me to sleep
I force my blind eyes open, Lord
But I'm sinking in the deep.
O Lord Jesus, do you think i've served my time?
The eight legs of the Devil now are crawling
up my spine.
I go to sleep each evening now
dreaming of the grave
and see the friends I use to know
calling out my name.
O Lord Jesus, do you think i've served my time?
The eight legs of the Devil now are crawling
up my spine.
O Lord Jesus, do you think i've served my time?
The eight legs of the Devil now are crawling
up my spine.
O Lord Jesus, here's the news from those below:
The eight legs of the Devil will not let my people go.
(all music arranged and performed live by D. Gal?s)
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Judgement Day
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Dead souls rising
Hear our crying
To the jailers of the dying
"You shall hang on Judgement Day"
On that day the Dead shall wake thee
Wandering flesh shall all surround thee
To seal your fate on Judgement Day
Let us call the guilty forward
Hang the sinner, Brand the coward
Let them burn on Judgement Day
Run you liars, Fate awaits thee
When your Faces shall Expose thee
None can hide on Judgement Day
Join the Paradise of Torture
While we pluck your tongues of murder
Hear our laughter Judgement Day
Blood of sinners, hear our shrieking
Blood of sinners all beseeching
We shall drink on Judgement Day
Join the Carnival of Feasting
While the worms your flesh are waiting
Yes! We shall eat on Judgement Day
Death defying
Let us gather
Praise the Warrior and Master
Hail our Saints on Judgement Day
(incorporates the traditional psalm Holy Holy Holy
and Dies Irae. Dedicated to the saints of New York
City, both the living and the dead. First performed
on All Saint's Day, 1991 in New York City.)
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