Voice in the wind --- David Castle --- 1994 (Running Black Sheep)
Nobody --- and I mean
nobody --- knows who David Castle is. Look for him on Wikipedia and all you get is some Canadian professor. Even the most obscure, Russian download album sites have never heard of him. You can't torrent him, and his first album is officially deleted. And yet, the guy is a genius and deserves to be far better known than he is. He's a multi-instrumentalist, and a passionate songwriter who cares about the planet. This is his third album, and you really should listen to it.
It opens with the title track, a beautiful keyboard and piano driven ballad, with some lovely sounds like harp and flute to weave a totally mesmerising song of hope and joy. Okay, so the guy is spiritual, and that comes through in his music, but there's no evidence of God-bothering, as they say, even in the next track, “Angel in your garden”, which is more about the idea of a guardian angel than any sort of organised religion. Again piano-led, with a beautiful opening sequence, it's a simple song in its lyrical theme, but gives the impression of an entire orchestra playing when it's just one guy. Both these songs are long, and probably just as well, as there are only nine tracks on the album, two of which are less than two minutes long (one is just over one minute), but with the exception of the somewhat embarrassingly trite “Peace, love and brotherhood”, there's not a bad one among them.
(Not in the least surprised to find there wasn't a single David Castle video on YT, so here are some I made earlier....)
“Lay your weapons down” is, on the surface perhaps, naively optimisic. The idea that people are just suddenly going to stop killing each other and live in peace is certainly a dream, but not one that any of us expects to come true in our lifetime, nor that of our children. Or their children. Or theirs. It's a nice little song though, distilling the reasons for war down to their very simplest bones, and making the offer
”You can learn to forgive/ Lay your weapons down/ Learn how to live/ Lay your weapons down.” Ah, if only if were that easy, David! It should be of course, but then that's the real world for you. Nonetheless, David sings with passion and conviction as though he truly believes this to be an achievable goal, and perhaps one day it may be.
“Pathway to home” is a lovely little piano solo, which in many ways evokes the earliest work of Billy Joel, then we're into that “Peace, love and Brotherhood” song. To be fair, it's not bad, and it's well composed, but it is a little cringeworthy. It's a blues/gospel hybrid with a really great melody, but it belongs in another era sadly. Things soon improve though for the gentle ballad “Turn around”, perhaps one of Castle's best since his hit (yes, he had a hit single!) “Ten to eight”, back in 1977. It's understated, quiet and reflective in that way Castle has of singing directly to your soul.
“Last days” is perhaps the most overtly Christian song, with its lyric concerning the belief that we are approaching the end,of the world and the advice that we should think about changing our ways. It's not bad advice to be honest. The song is a mid-paced ballad, starting off with a string section which would not sound out of place in any religious film or movie about the life of Jesus, then the piano takes over and the drums gently usher the song into life.
”We've seen the earthquakes,” sings David,
“We've seen the fires/ We've seen the signs all of our lives/ We've seen the famine and disease/ Mother Nature has us down on our knees.” As songs of the Apocalypse go, it's a rather cheerful and optimistic one, the message being that if this is It, we had better get down on our knees and repent before the world ends in fire. It won't convince me, but hey, it's better than someone screaming at you that you're going to Hell, eh?
The two short tracks mentioned at the opening of this review complete the album, the first being a reprise of the title track, called, not surprisingly, “Voice in the wind reprise”. Not totally sure why he did this. It's nothing extra, just the end part of the song again, and gorgeous as that track is, it's long enough and doesn't need any addition. Oh well. The final track is the one I find the most personal, the simple “Thanks”, in which David thanks us for listening to his album against some lovely orchestration. Never had anyone thank me for listening to their work before. I'm touched, really I am.
To my knowledge, there's only one place to buy this album, and it's Castle's own website,
david castle.net : Official Web Site of the Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter/Composer. Oh wait, no, I'm wrong. Small print on the website informs me it's also available through CD baby. Fair enough. It's only twelve dollars if you mention his website, and to be perfectly frank, it's quite likely the best value for money you'll get. This is an album you want to hear.
TRACKLISTING
1. Voice in the wind
2. Angel in your garden
3. Lay your weapons down
4. Pathway to home
5. Peace, love and brotherhood
6. Turn around
7. Last days
8. Voice in the wind (reprise)
9. Thanks