About "The Beautiful, the Delicate and the True" - by Fula (2002)

track Listing
1.Brazil 2.Ballerina Junkies 3.Siren 4.White Lilies
5.Buried 6.Save our Souls 7.Code Red 8.Living In Pieces (part 10)

Fula's 2002 release, The Beautiful, the Delicate and the True highlights a fine debut outing for vocalist Josie Bostin.

The album was recorded digitally and features 8 strong tracks, including Brazil, which was released as an EP the previous year.

About the Tracks

1. Brazil
Initially, this rocking opener was a slightly mellower affair, written on the piano and spacey electronic drums. It was conceived by Rob and Greg in early 2001 at Fula's own studio. It was briefly released as a demo single alongside White Lilies and Serpentine. The artwork designed by Nigel controversially depicted two air view shots of the Brazilian rain forest before and after deforestation.

2. Ballerina Junkies
First appeared as "The Masque of Doctor Volospion" back in 1987, as the song bridged two of Robs former bands, surprisingly called "Masque" and "Doctor Volospion" It changed little until former Fula vocalist Zoe added the melody and lyric in late 1999, too late to be included on the "Dark Matter" (1999) album. It was her final contribution to the band, and one of her greatest.

3. Siren
Working name "Hogweed", with slight early Genesis overtones, particularly Rob's Tony Banksesque crossover fingers verse rif. Siren was born in 1999. This time it was Josie's turn to rescue it mid 2001 by adding lyric and melody. Its skipperty hopperty mood hides a more sinister tale of sailors lured onto the rocks by beautiful sirens.

4. White Lilies
Originally called Mayday, this track was perhaps the first written after the critically acclaimed "Dark Matter", but took over a year to complete from start to finish. Josie's delicate description of loss and the overall mood of the music adds darkness and fatality to the album. The piano was recorded in 3 separate takes, most of them still remain on the finished work. The album's title was also lifted from the lyric.

5. Buried
Formerly "Mayhem", after Tommy Lee's "Methods of Mayhem". Jason's finger twisting, crunching, heavy guitar rif opens the second half of the album with a bang. Written in late 2000 this one time album opener is always a crowd pleaser at live shows. It almost received an Indian twist with the idea of tablas and sitars being added to the middle section but a more straightforward guitar/drums passage was settled on by the band. Buried was the bedfellow of another unrecorded track in similar vein called "The Punisher" which was aired twice in Buxton and Derby respectively before being dropped from the set.

6. Save Our Souls
Save Our Souls is a rework of part two of "Living In Pieces" initially revising the old track but finally making the album as a stand out track in its self. Jason's distinctive guitar style comes into its own on this piece, Floydesque at times, it reaches its climax with the help of an Anglo-French rendition of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again".

7. Code Red
A pain and a joy to perform and record, Nigel's bass rif carries this ten minute contemporary progressive rock epic along with the help of layered and harmonised keyboards and guitar. Afro-Crimson-Talking Heads influences can be heard by the listener, all instruments featured a ¼ second delay in its early stages but this idea was dropped in order to "unclutter" the work. The keyboard solo was recorded in two separate takes, the second harmonises the first.

8. Living in Pieces Pt. 10
The final track on the album is also a continuation of the very first Fula track, the dramatic prog opus Living In Pieces (1 to 9) featured on "Songs From Beyond the Merrygolight" (1995). It actually began its recent life as an LIP part 2 rework but the rif itself came into existence in 1990 on Robs "Life Afterlife" demo recorded in London.

© Rob Gould. All Rights Reserved.