Living & Alive by Beatrix Players – Album Review

‘There’s no Such Thing as an Ordinary Moment’

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In a memorable phrase, the Chorus of women in T. S. Eliot’s 1935 play Murder in the Cathedral talk about ‘Living and partly living’, describing their mundane existence, quietly avoiding notice. The concept behind the new album by Beatrix Players is having the courage to move beyond ‘partly living’ and, in the words of main songwriter Amy Birks,

‘To really be alive…simply put; you are your best you, and will only ever be second best if you’re trying to be something other than you.’

Living & Alive is Beatrix Players’ second album after a hiatus following the first album Magnified released in March 2017. Since then founding member, writer and vocalist, Birks has released two solo albums, All That I am and All That I Was and In Our Souls. She is joined by her co-writers from the original Beatrix Players line-up, Helena Dove, and guitarist Tom Manning. The newly expanded group also includes flautist John Hackett, guitarist Oliver Day (That Joe Payne/Yes Please), drummer Andrew Booker (Tim Bowness/ no-man), classical cellist Jane Fenton, pianist Matthew Lumb and bassist Kyle Welch. 

The opening pair of tracks, ‘Snowflakes’ and ‘Somebody Else’s Eyes’ share a very similar melody, segueing seamlessly from one to another. The first track is about how easy it is to forget the most important things in life, and the second is about awareness, with a much more positive outlook on life. It’s fascinating to compare the expert way in which Birks approaches her vocal delivery in these two songs. ‘Snowflakes’ demonstrates the rich, deep and emotionally affecting contralto that she used to such powerful effect on her last two solo albums. On ‘Somebody Else’s Eyes’, the vocals are much more delicate, to reflect the more uplifting message, matched by Fenton’s lovely contemplative cello part.

‘Start Again’ was the first single from the album and has already been reviewed here as part of the Off the Beaten Track series. The song celebrates the return of Beatrix Players with expanded instrumental forces; to savour the added richness of the new chamber ensemble listen to the long instrumental section of ‘This is Your Life’, which is deliciously free-flowing. It features a haunting, chanted refrain, and a quicksilver guitar solo from Day which duets with assertive bursts of flute from Hackett. The freedom of the instrumental parts perfectly matches the message of the song which is about never letting go of ‘the child within’ whatever tribulations life brings.

The role played by the other members of the band apart from Birks extends beyond providing instrumental parts. Although Birks is the main songwriter and writes most of the lyrics, Manning co-writes three tracks including the uplifting ‘Free’ which is about letting go and living life away from the control of others. Hackett contributes to the words and music of ‘A Beautiful Lie’; the song began when he wrote the chorus. ‘We’re living a beautiful lie’, playing on the idea of living a beautiful life. Hackett describes the perfect life that many couples live on social media or in magazines, yet underneath there’s a lot of ‘concealed unhappiness.’ (Living and partly living…) Helena Dove, who provides backing vocals on ‘Overflow’, also writes the lyrics and the music for the song, which she describes as being about ‘a very ordered person’ who is ‘processing the overwhelming feelings of love’ which eventually overflow.

Birks describes the narrative flow of the album as leading to a sense of empowerment, with a renewed sense of self, ‘I’ve come through a lot over the past several years and learned a lot.’ (See the interview with her here). Her hard-earned wisdom is reflected in the many lyrical insights into the best way of living life beyond a mundane or trapped existence, but the melodies and instrumental parts are equally captivating. The whole album, which provides many moments of subtle joy, can be summed up by the opening words of the first track, ‘there’s no such thing as an ordinary moment.’

Living & Alive is released on 22 September.