Music Review: The Sweet Peace of Chaos
by Dick Diamond
Julia Davis Allen
Julia Davis Allen – Order in the Chaos.
Available at www.juliadavisallen.com.
Julia Davis Allen, Scott Reinwand (Producers).
Scott Wiley, Dan Carlisle, Scott Reinwand and Travis Allen (Engineers).
Mike Chadbourne (Main Mixing Engineer).
Living with chaos has become a staple of present day existence, especially for those managing families. A little order amidst the confusion is always welcome relief. Julia Davis Allen has found her order and solace in the art of self-expression. Solace in creations that are fresh, current, hip and nostalgic. Very modern, yet unusually accessible. A wonderful hybrid of modern instrumentation and chord changes with meaningful lyrics and classic rock sounds via Hammond B-3’s, electric guitars and the like.but more on that later.
Julia began her musical journey in Rapid City, South Dakota. Coming from musical parents and grandparents (her grandfather was a Juillard scholar and concert pianist), she started her piano studies at the age of eight years old and wrote her first noteworthy song when she was thirteen. After playing in rock bands at Ricks College, with BYU Hawaii’s Jazz Ensemble and various cover bands, Julia, now living in Orem, Utah, decided it was time to put together her own band. All she needed was someone, besides herself, husband Travis and their three kids, who might grasp the vision of what she was trying to say with her music. While performing in a BYU Songwriters Showcase she serendipitously met Scott Reinwand who instantly “got” where Julia was coming from with her music. She had found her co-producer. Now, all that was needed was a place to record her creations. Fortunately, Travis, who installs recording studios and teaches sound recording at BYU, was asked to install equipment in a new facility to be named Solarium Studios. It was through an arduous trade in labor for recording time that Mrs. Allen would finally have the financial opportunity to record her album.
Similarities to the hit music of Sarah McLachlan are unavoidable, with Julia’s phrasing and the space she puts between the notes. But Julia and the gang have their own ideas. Their use of a string quartet or small chamber ensemble is intriguingly inventive. Mildly dissonant and chaotic yet, somehow, strangely inviting. The texture these classical instruments provide throughout the album and especially on Lord of the Universe provide a musical atmosphere that pulls you into the sonic fabric of these compositions. The acoustic guitar work of Rich Dixon, Yoni Gileadi and Scott Wiley is not the typically pedestrian intro-then-strum work found on most pop albums. Instead they keep the clever intro work and allow it to build throughout a song, creating textures, emotions and sub themes. Neither does the bass/rhythm section rest on the styles of the mundane, instead creating soulful and captivating foundations and suck-you-in grooves. Not to be left out is Julia’s inspiring and gifted vocal work, my favorite example of which is in the song Down There. All this combined with tasty and well-positioned vocal harmonies makes for an album that grows on you with every listen. And, let me state, that Order in the Chaos requires repeated listening before you begin to understand and truly appreciate all that lies beneath the jacket.
Julia has strong thoughts and feelings, which she is intent on communicating. She doesn’t take a conservative backseat on these social commentaries, yet is able to deliver them devoid of acrimony. Witness Allen’s frustrations: “Is that the way it’ll always be: Man’s inhumanity to man?”; “Now we reject religion for philosophy.some have joined together to write God’s fate”; “We say we both believe in God and love and all that stuff, but my God isn’t your God and your love just isn’t enough.” Amidst these concerns also exist poignant statements of hope and beauty: “There are so many things in this world to love.babies in their mother’s arms.the smell of the mountain air blowing at night”; “Look into the microscope, see the fingerprint of God, calculus and physics: simple games for His mastermind”; “But I see order in the chaos, I see God in a Godless man, I see numbers all around us, I sense the truth of who I am.”
Evident in this work is the fact the Julia Davis Allen has found who she is, and by so doing gives us opportunities for introspection and delight. If you are one who enjoys music as therapy from the stresses of life, I recommend you give Order in the Chaos a listen. It might just afford you a little well deserved peace in your own pandemonium.
2001 Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
