Cali and Cae's Musical Adventure

"The Ortolan" - The Deadly Syndrome

Track Listing

1: Eucalyptus

2: Winter in You

3: I Hope I Become a Ghost

4: Wolves in the Garden

5: Animals Wearing Clothes

6: Friends Who Don't Go Out At Night

7: Heart

8: Emily Paints

9: I Release You

10: Creature Creature

11: The Ship that Shot Itself

12: This Old Home

13: The Ortolan

Ally

The Ortolan, for all intents and purposes, is an odd beast.

Whether it’s the rough, breakneck speed and fury that is “Heart,” which opens up with a flurry of random notes and an intense sequence of drums before leading into a gritty guitar line backed by quiet synthesizers while the singer screams “Every night is the end of the world!/Every night!/IT MAKES US CHANGE!” as though his very life depends on it, or the slow, fairy tale-esque storytelling of “Wolves in the Garden,” which tells the story of two star-crossed lovers who are murdered by feral wolves in a garden. 

That’s one of The Ortolan’s most enduring qualities; there is a large amount of variety here. The album can jump from rough, intense tracks that seem like they’re going to fly apart at the seams (“Friends Who Don’t Go Out At Night,” “Heart,” “Emily Paints,”) to slow, claustrophobic, emotional songs (“I Hope I Become a Ghost,” “Animals Wearing Clothes,” “Creature, Creature,” “This Old Home,”).

The songs follow a running theme of alienation and modernism (a line in “Animals Wearing Clothes” goes: “Keep it to yourself/Make your life a living hell/Die a little every day/Most people die that way”), and a loose narrative of growing up and moving on (the beginning of the album, “Eucalyptus,” tells the story of two kids harassed by an unnamed force and forced to live in a eucalyptus tree for many years, and the second to last song, “This Old Home,” tells the story of a man haunted by his childhood home and all that dwells within it), making the album both fascinating and deeply rewarding in terms of analyzation.

Overall, The Ortolan is one of my favorite albums of all times, and deserves every bit of praise it gets. The album never lets up, and will leave you to emotional ties to nearly every song on it, except for the lackluster ending, titled “The Ortolan.” (One can hope that the band just wanted to give you a break from all of the emotional turmoil found within the record’s grooves, and give you an instrumental song as a breather).

Despite the lackluster ending, The Ortolan is well worth your money, and will give you many repeated listens in which you’ll find new things in its recording to adore.

Lyd

It’s always a bit of a risk, devoting fifty-six minutes and twenty-four seconds of my music-listening time to an album recommended by Ally. While we often entertain similar musical tastes, she has a penchant for the kind of loud rock that I detest. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by her choice of “The Ortolan” by The Deadly Syndrome.

Christopher Richard has very enjoyable vocals that fit in nicely as background music. Though they seem a little strained on the higher/sustained notes of “Eucalyptus,” it is very pleasurable nonetheless. He is certainly not the most talented vocalist I’ve ever come across and it sounds like he could do with loosening up a bit, flourishing on the lower and longer notes.

“I Hope I Become a Ghost” has a brilliant start that makes me want to carry on listening – it drew my attention away from what I was doing at the time with a perky piano riff, reminiscent of B.o.B.

The simplicity of the occasional mellow tones is exacerbated by soothing guitar and soft melodies on tracks such as “Wolves in the Garden” are wonderfully unobtrusive: ultimate writing music, for those unaffected by vocals. The subtle guitar is intertwined with the light tinkling of a triangle-esque instrument and does well to offset the album’s rowdier tracks such as “Emily Paints.” There is, however, perhaps a bit too much of a pop/rock and folksy imbalance. While the album shines for a clutch of gems such as the nigh-on perfect “This Old Home,” it has a heavier focus on the faster tracks: not my preference, but not bad.

“The Ship that Shot Itself” has the sort of calm simplicity that I like, with the undeniable French feel afforded to it by the accordian-like backing instrument. The band has a broad capability for combining instruments and contrasting speeds to maximum effect, as demonstrated in “Animals Wearing Clothes” with the jumpy piano and the steadier guitar. However, “This Old Home is the irrefutable favourite of the album. A very enjoyable start, the vocals are reminiscent of a softer version of Band of Horses. It is a truly stunning song. The haunting desperation in the voice “come back home” will resonate with many. almost a tearjerker.

The eponymous final song of the album is a let-down. A purely instrumental piece, it is too fast paced and hyperactive, reminiscent of a 90s video game, to be a good closure to the album after the incredibly strong previous song. A part of The Deadly Syndrome’s musical genius is their lyrical magnitude with lines such as You're blinded by a verse or two/Convinced that they're all about you and And I break things down until they're small and friendly/Well that includes your heart/And like a rundown shopping cart/Goes creaking down the aisle (Animals Wearing Clothes).

Upon the second listening to supplement my initial notes, I found this album to be more enjoyable than the first time. It needed time to stew and settle on my mind before I could form an opinion, to fully appreciate the hidden genius that pops out with each replay. It is definitely worth a listen, whatever music you’re into, and while each track is not a gem in itself, the album as a whole is something special.