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The Bob, October 1989
by James Hopkins
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With a label
name like C est La Mort and labelmates
who used to play with This Mortal Coil
it's a good guess that Area is not a
bcer guzzlin' rockabilly band but an
outfit dedicated to funeral tempos and
prettily wafting melodies that slowly
and sexily intone over spacey
synthesizers. There's no denying kinship
here with the merry groups of 4AD. The
music of Henry Frayne and Steve Jones
splits into tunes where silence is an
active partner to the sparse, delicately
repetitive guitars, floating and ringing
minimalistic keyboards, and basses that
plunk like tolling bells: while at other
times the songs parallel the slow. sad
art/pop of the salad days of OMD.
Pushing above the music like a blast of
winter wind comes lyricist/melodist Lynn
Canfield, whose rapturously chilly voice
breathes tunes like a horny spirit
obsessively recording a constantly
shifting series of surrealistic and
sharply detailed images and moods. She
intensely describes the hills and
valleys of her emotional landscaPe with
clinical simplicity -- until a wildly
romantic odd-angled flash of memorv adds
a dash of symbolism to her gleefully
neurotic lines.
By now all
you raunchers and raunchettes have long
ago fled this review, ears plugged with
cotton and feet flung toward the first
exit. But for those others who feel that
the 4AD sound has its own strange little
joys, but who wonder why they should
listen to this trio, there's a simple
answer. Area uses their influences
carefully as springboards to create
unique melodies and thoughts of their
own, creating a production sound that is
crisper and more intimate than the epic
sweep of the British moodists. The sexy
fairy passion of Canfield and the
evocative landscapes drawn with brain
power by the band give reason to hope
that Area will not have to look back for
long at the other side of the ocean.
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This perfect
dream is an extremely wistful and
precious one. The music is reminiscent
of what might occur if Dururtti Column
were to mate with the Cocteau Twins,
particularly in the case of "With
Louise." The whole album is a fine peice
of work, with a lot of variation within
the band's hypnotic and delicate style.
"I'll Gather Flowers" has hints of
minimalism, and at times is a bit like
the Penguin Cafe Orchestra with female
vocals added. "Why Should I Worry" is a
bit more fast-paced than most of the
songs, with a good sense, of percussion.
Lynn Canfield's vocals add a lot of
dimension to the band's identity and her
style is unique and does not seek to
emulate others in this genre, such as
Virginia Astley. The album is twee,
delicate, winsome and yes, absolutely
precious, much in the same way a This
Mortal Coil album can be. But if you
find that sort of music enjoyable, as I
do, then this album will surely not
disappoint you.
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OPtion, September 1988
by Maria V. Montgomery
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Press release, circa 1989
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In May l986,
Steve Jones of The Arms of Someone New
had a little time on his hands and some
now material that was developing in a
direction different from TASN'S. So he
invited a couple of friends from Office
Records' ACK-ACK to collaborate and
"just see what happens." Guitarist Henry
Frayne also had a few songs in the works
which were added to the experiment. Lynn
Canfield, then a keyboard player,
decided to end a two year hiatus and
redevelop her skills as
vocalist/lyricist. The music came
together naturally and steadily,
enabling Area to release an LP length
cassette in the fall of '86. This tape
was so well received that the group
continued to write and record as often
as possible through the fall and winter.
This spree culminated in the release of
the "Radio Caroline" LP in March 1987
and was followed by a month or two of
rest.
For the rest
the year, they slowed down, allowing a
greater attention to detail and some
guest work by a handful of Champaign
musicians. Nick Rudd contributed a song,
Glenn Graham played sax and clarinet on
a number of pieces, and K. Paul Boyev
sat in on bass. Lynn started taking more
time to hone lyrics and strengthen her
voice, increasing its flexibility. In
the studio he was building, Henry
developed his songs to near completion
before recording them with Steve and
Lynn. Steve. in his studio and at the U
of I's Synclavier lab, remained prolific
as before and began experimenting with
arrangement and focusing on
post-production until every song was in
its finest form.
While Steve
relocated to Northern Wisconsin and the
group adjusted to the necessity of
long-distance calls and frequent travel
, C'est La Mort Regards expressed
interest in their material and by May
1988 released Area's second album, "The
Perfect Dream."
In November
of 1988, CLM released CD versions of the
first two albums, with additional tracks
from White Canvas New Hope and some
previously unreleased material. Busier
than ever, Area was finishing their
third album (and CD) Betwecn Purple and
Pink which will be available in the
spring of 1989, and planning videos to
accompany this release. With recording
studios close by, each member has
continued to write and develop on a
regular basis.
The band
does not champion a philosophy
aggressively but instead allows the
music to communicate what the musicians
believe: the lyrics are very personal
and attempt to convey an emotional
experience. With a combination of
honesty and care, the project succeeds
on a personal level and as a result
attracts an audience with similar
values. The emphasis is human in order
that, at its best, the music is rich to
those who hear the same things in their
lives.
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