Belle Of The Fall released this Rise Up CD to much fanfare not too many months ago. Since then, it’s been nominated for awards and has received plenty of favorable reviews. Belle Of The Fall is a duo comprised of Tracy Walton and Julia Autumn Ford, two Connecticut singer-songwriters well respected in their own rights Together, they have created this beautiful whisper of an album. While they are low key, gentle in delivery, the pair present something beautiful and touching in each cut.
Opening track “The Great Unknown“ is a brief but wild ride through a rushing soundscape. A melodic siren cries and the duo’s vocal chant grab the listener’s attention, in a cool way.
“Two” follows with both singers crooning a lush but whispery harmony. It catches the ear with its precise motion and thickness of voice. Beneath is a pitter patter of sweet, mild acoustic guitar notes, little ripples that push things along. Eventually, Ford’s near hypnotic lead vocal takes over and becomes the definition of allure. She just has something in her timbre and delivery that haunts the listener’s mind with lyrical intrigue.
“Nothing Left To Lose” continues the duo’s fine path of letting duo vocals flow over light but engaging accompaniment. Ford’s breezy coos coat this number well. The duo’s light touch of acoustic guitar and upright bass make a huge emotional impression while not overwhelming the voices, the lyrics, and the song in general.
A little bit jauntier than their other tracks here, “Spinning Around The Sun” offers a keen, enticing pedal steel line that lends this song a second means of engagement. Ford’s tastefully self-restrained vocal is full of emotive suggestion, and it hovers beautifully, mystically above that melodic pedal steel. Both sounds contrast and highlight each other perfectly. When Ford sustains one of her vocal notes, she takes the song into a higher artistic level, am aural diamond that reflects every bright sound.
Title track “Rise Up” has a bit of pop appeal in its smooth little coos and its hooky chorus. The duo takes this one’s lyrical passages with a pretty unison. Guest player Jeff Chen offers up an elegant cello line that heightens, emphasizes the emotive impact as the duo pulls us even higher with their rising vocal parts.
“Time” bops on in on the strength of Tracy Walton’s plucky, upright bass notes. Walton gives this tune a special backbone, a line that moves around his strings with supple elegance. Ford’s sussurant beauty moves around her lyrical descriptions with a cat like quietness, a voice that has power but travels with an unforced style, a grace that becomes more graceful as it rises in dynamics and moves to her higher vocal range. She is just candy for the ear.
Walton’s handsome voice moves in a subtle manner, a vocal that rides a quiet melodic line beneath him on “Super Moon.” His husky timbre gently unfurls his descriptions as a gentle, shiny line of keyboard notes hit the ear at just the right, considerate moments. Ah, the beauty of simplicity.
“They All Come Crashing Down” has a thickness in the low end and a push in the Steven Peck drum work. We feel this song taking us somewhere at a steady pace, like rafting down some intermediate currents. Ford’s voice is clear and artsy above it, an instrument in and of itself that she can erupt, suddenly, into wider, brighter, sharper expressions.
“It’s Bitsy Spider” is a clever take on the old nursery rhyme, complete with acoustic slide guitar and pleasantly aloof vocals. The feeling of distance in the singers’ approach matches the quirky feel, and it makes one feel the duo are trying to indicate exactly how weird that song has always been, even though we never stopped to notice it.
Closing track “The Outer Of Bounds” returns us to the eerie soundscape at the beginning of this disc, tying together the entire album into one neat package of subtle expression. Belle Of The Fall are onto something special and unique. This duo cannot be pigeonholed into the usual singer-songwriter categories. They are as serious as folk, as clever as prog, and their vocal work, especially their harmonies, can be compared to any of the greats who have graced our lives over the years. Additionally, Walton is the owner of On Deck Sound Studio in Northfield, Connecticut, and the sound he gets out of his and Ford’s voices and all of the instruments here is impressive, clarity, tone, and precision all the way through.
