Emptied Animal and Leave Me Like You Found Me are available as separate releases or as part of a Lost Tribe Sound subscription series; we recommend the series, as it offers nine musical works for the cost of three. This is a very generous offer from a generous composer, who seems incapable of recording a throwaway track. We’ve enjoyed watching Fritch’s career unfold, from his early days as Vieo Abiungo to last year’s soundtrack for the award-winning documentary The Waiting Room. There’s plenty more where that came from, including multiple soundtracks as well as EPs and albums, so much that they warranted this special project.
Lest I start sounding like a press release, I’d like to state for the record that I put my own money on this series, and have already gotten my money’s worth in just the early installments. The only advantage I was given as a reviewer was the ability to hear the music before the general public. The most pleasant surprise so far has been the quality of the bonus EPs that arrived on download cards with the Emptied Animal and Leave Me Like You Found Me CDs (and are available only with the physical purchase). The first is a series of bonus tracks from the same sessions, while the second is a mini-album. Each is good enough to compete with the main project. In fact, since Emptied Animal is half-vocal, those who favor instrumental music might even prefer it. Factor in the physical appearance, especially the hardbound gatefold of Leave Me Like You Found Me, and it’s clear that the label has pulled out all the stops.
But should the listener ignore the vocal tracks included on Emptied Animal? Not at all, as they tell an intriguing story. Fritch uses his voice for texture as much as for lyric delivery. Listening to “Late Blooms”, one thinks of The Beatles’ “Within You Without You”, a mystical swirl in which the strings and words form a vortex of sound. Remove the words, and the track is still a stunner, as proven by the instrumental version. In fact, each of the vocal tracks here is backed by a lyric-free version, while “Late Blooms” is also presented in an acoustic version. The falsetto segment of “Our Unsettled Shapes” sets up the jazzy breakdown. And the EP’s finest moments are the choral closings found on this piece and “In a Tame World”. The different versions provide options for the listeners, who are able to decide their own preferences.
Leave Me Like You Found Me is the soundtrack to an indie film by Adele Romanski (which just completed a successful Kickstarter campaign – congratulations!). The film is about lovers who break up, are miserable apart, and try to get back together a year later in hopes that they will be less miserable. It’s probably just a coincidence that romance is part of Romanski, but we like the link. Echoing the plot, Fritch takes apart classic rock tracks, then attempts to put them back together, adding them to his own evocative instrumentation with pleasingly melancholic results. While listening, some may feel a subliminal nostalgia, as the source material has been thoroughly transfigured. João Ruas’ cover art suggests an angel and a demon in the desert, an image of Lent, reminding listeners that on occasion, we may be called upon to give something up for our own good.
Leave Me Like You Found Me is easily distinguishable from its predecessor. Humbler in sound while more ambitious in scope, the album washes over the listener like beautiful regret. Should we fall into the temptation to idealize what we once discarded? And if so, how far should we go? The wordless vocals of “Sun on Cold Skin” fall like crystallized tears, the type that one might wish to photograph and preserve. Are these old rock tracks the nails on which our regrets are hung? Has an obsession become unhealthy? Is the angel ascending or descending? The slow strings intimate an unhappy ending, yet one that might prove happier over time.
The quality and quantity of music offered in the Leave Me Sessions (an overall term for the hours of music collected here) makes this subscription series not only one of the best bargains of the year, but one of 2014’s Big Events. This is Fritch’s year, and we’re happy to share it with him. (Richard Allen)
Emptied Animal Release Date: 22 April
Leave Me Like You Found Me Release Date: 20 May
a closer listen 