Mary Fahl
Encyclopedia
Mary Fahl is an American
singer
, songwriter
and actress known for her work with October Project
in the mid-1990s. More recently she is known for her solo singing and acting career. She released an EP Lenses of Contact in 2001, and a full album The Other Side of Time
in 2003 on Sony Classical. A new album, From the Dark Side of the Moon
, was released on May 10, 2011. Her music has been featured in the film Gods and Generals
, as well as the film version of the play The Guys
.
on July 1, 1958. She was raised in a large Irish
/German
family in Stony Point, New York
; her father was an accountant who commuted to New York City
. Fahl has stated that as a child she used to sing along with her older sibling's records to practice her voice. She formed her first makeshift recording studio in the household bathroom. She attended Albertus Magnus High School
, and graduated from North Rockland High School
. She later attended McGill University
to study medieval literature
.
After graduating, Fahl and her sister left the United States to spend 1½ years in Europe; she said that she received an "informal graduate degree in music" by checking out vinyl records at a library in Holland and listening to and analyzing them. She also earned money by house-sitting and singing in cafes.
. Upon returning to New York City
, she was introduced to lyricist Julie Flanders by a friend. Flanders introduced Fahl to Flanders' collaborator and boyfriend Emil Adler, a composer. Together with guitarist Dave Sabatino they formed the early incarnation of the band October Project
, with Fahl handling lead vocals. Fahl stated they "rehearsed forever, a year and a half sort of finding where we were." They soon added vocalist Marina Belica and began touring the coffee house scene with their original music, eventually releasing their self-titled debut in 1993 on Epic Records
. They released a second full album, Falling Farther In, in 1995 on Epic, and the album made it to the Billboard 200
. The group toured with acts such as Sarah McLachlan
and Crash Test Dummies
. The group disbanded in 1996, reforming in 2001 with Belica (lead vocals), Flanders and Adler.
While singer for October Project, the media occasionally depicted Fahl as "a goddess of Goth, a figure admired by followers of the vampire
movement." Fahl, however, has stated she does not identify as Goth. She has theorized that because she did not have much money at the time and chiefly wore one black dress to all public appearances, the media misinterpreted her image.
, Crystal Light
, Russell Athletic, and Fisher-Price
.
, Lenses of Contact, in early 2000 for Rough Mix Records. It featured four songs: "Raging Child", "Paolo", "Meant to Say", and "Redemption"; the title of the EP came from a line in "Paolo". The EP contained elements of folk music
, rock 'n' roll, and pop
. Jeffrey Lesser, a producer/engineer who has previously worked with Barbara Streisand, Joni Mitchell
, Lou Reed
, and The Chieftains
, produced the EP. She toured to promote the EP backed a by a five piece band of rock musicians. Many of the members of her newly formed backing band later became the band Ollabelle
.
Reviews
The EP was released to favorable reviews. Allmusic gave it 4½ out of 5 stars. They compared her to Mitchell and Judy Collins
, although noting that she belted
more than Mitchell, and concluded, "This promising solo debut demonstrates that Fahl is a very spiritual and moving storyteller in her own right."
In a live review of a Lenses of Contact show, Billboard
stated "while her former band was sometimes categorized as new age
, progressive
, or art rock
because of its classical leanings, the solo Fahl has her feet firmly planted in classic rock, pop, and folk terrain."
The New York Press
wrote the EP "makes us embarrassed for both the mincing stampede of girl singers on the charts and for Fahl herself, who actually cares enough to sing, literally, from her guts, while daringly carving every phrase into dizzying terrain."
, including Peter Gelb
. She earned an album contract, and after several months working on material in studio, released her first full-length album in winter 2003. The Other Side of Time
had 14 songs in all (three of which were originally featured on Lenses of Contact). She shares writing credits on 12 of the 14 tracks on album. It was again produced and engineered by Jeffrey Lesser, formerly responsible for her EP. Fahl toured across the country in support of the album's release.
Two songs on the album featured prominently on soundtracks. "Going Home" was written by Fahl to appear in the opening of the Civil War
film Gods and Generals
. The album's closing track, Fahl's version of the traditional Irish tune "The Dawning of the Day
," was featured in the film version of the Broadway play The Guys
, along with several reprises of the song.
Style, themes
Fahl wrote her lyrics to "The Dawning of the Day" to honor firefighters who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Ronan Tynan
performed the song in 2006 at the re-opening dedication for the Seven World Trade Center.
The Other Side of Time showed some additional sides to Fahl's style, bringing in opera
styles in "Una furtiva lagrima
" and Middle Eastern influences in "Ben Aindi Habibi". These two tracks, which Fahl sang in Italian
and Mozarabic
respectively, were the first non-English language
songs to appear on her records. "Ben Aindi Habibi" was a traditional kharja
written in the 11th century. Fahl said in an interview that she had discovered "Ben Aindi Habibi" while on tour with October Project and considered it her favorite song on The Other Side of Time. In an interview with Liane Hansen
of National Public Radio, Fahl stated that she performed these songs on The Other Side of Time because she was signed to a classical label and a pop label would not have let her make that type of record.
Reviews
Overall, The Other Side of Time met with largely positive reviews. The Salt Lake Tribune
gave the Other Side of Time an "A" grade in a review, and Film Score Monthly
called her "a brasher, more exciting version of Enya
and Sissel
" and concluded "Mary Fahl, thankfully, is not your typical pop singer. Somewhat unwieldy, but always interesting. More filmmakers should pay attention to the vocal talent on display in this CD."
A live Boston Globe review from August 2003 stated "Fahl has a voice for the gods. It is a compelling operatic pop instrument that can transport listeners to other realms. Her new album, The Other Side of Time, is a fascinating if sometimes slightly stiff mix of orchestral pop and riveting Celtic stylings a la Sandy Denny
of Fairport Convention
, with occasional hints of Sinéad O'Connor
." A live review from June 13, 2003 show stated the concert "let loose Fahl's deep, almost operatic vocal range. Usually such stylized music doesn't lend itself to variation...Fahl broke free of all stylistic restraints."
A July 2003 review stated that Fahl is "Most certainly an Artist of the highest caliber," and "this is not rock and roll. No dance moves or funky grooves, either. She is unlike any other popular performer today. Her lyrics are deeper and richer, like a Marc Cohen
or a less self-involved Joni Mitchell
. Her voice is a real treat, though. It is a force of nature, pulling you along as she rages against the heavens in full throttle; or softly, intimately singing to a private part of your soul that only she knew was there."
All-Music Guide praised her past work with October Project and her first solo EP but gave her only 2 out of 5 stars for The Other Side of Time, saying, "She still has the big voice, but she's opting for an easier course of being eclectic by tossing faint nods at different styles while trying to hew firmly to the center of the road."
, produced by Mark Doyle and David Werner and mixed by Bob Clearmountain
. Doyle also provided nearly all of the instrumentation. The album is a song-by-song "re-imagining" of Pink Floyd
's classic album The Dark Side of the Moon
. Advance copies were not sent out, and the album remained unreleased for several years after V2 Records
went out of business right before her release. Fahl self-released the album on May 10, 2011.
Reception
Publication Nippertown referred to the album as "mindblowing," while The Morton Report called it "brilliant" and "a worthy re-interpretation not to be missed."
The singer is expected to release a new originals album, Gravity, sometime in 2011.
and Pink Floyd
records, as well as her sisters' Joni Mitchell
and Dusty Springfield
albums. She's specifically cited Joni Mitchell as being highly influential in her music. She's also referenced Nico
and various film scores. Reviewers regularly have compared her to Enya
, saying "both have a vocal grace and rich melodic sense that verges on Classical Music." Fahl has stated she and Enya are not really alike, as Enya is a soprano
, while Fahl's voice is "earthier, a dusky contralto
. Her sound is more worldless vocales, my material is much more rooted in the storytelling, singer/songwriter tradition."
In a May 2011 interview, Fahl stated that she now uses a solo acoustic style at all live performances.
. Fahl and the other actors also served as musicians who performed the play's score. The play was originally performed at The Warehouse Theater in London
and later moved to an off-Broadway
theater in New York City
.
and is married to deep-sea oceanographer and marine biologist Richard A. Lutz
.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and actress known for her work with October Project
October Project
The October Project is a pop / rock band that was signed to major label Epic Records from March 1993 to June 1996.The members of the band during that time were Mary Fahl , Marina Belica , David Sabatino , Emil Adler , and Julie Flanders, the band’s lyricist, who did not perform with the Project on...
in the mid-1990s. More recently she is known for her solo singing and acting career. She released an EP Lenses of Contact in 2001, and a full album The Other Side of Time
The Other Side of Time
The Other Side of Time is the debut solo album from the American singer-songwriter Mary Fahl, released on May 27, 2003 by the newly formed Sony Odyssey label...
in 2003 on Sony Classical. A new album, From the Dark Side of the Moon
From the Dark Side of the Moon
From the Dark Side of the Moon is a 2011 album released by singer/songwriter Mary Fahl. The album is a song-by-song "re-imagining" of Pink Floyd's classic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.-Production:...
, was released on May 10, 2011. Her music has been featured in the film Gods and Generals
Gods and Generals (film)
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American film based on the novel Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara. It depicts events that take place prior to those shown in the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Shaara's father, Michael...
, as well as the film version of the play The Guys
The Guys
The Guys is a play by Anne Nelson about the aftereffects of the collapse of the World Trade Center. In the play, Joan, an editor, helps Nick, an FDNY captain, prepare the eulogies for an unprecedented number of firefighters who died under his command that day...
.
Early life, education
Mary Fahl was born Mary Faldermeyer in Rockland County, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on July 1, 1958. She was raised in a large Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
/German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
family in Stony Point, New York
Stony Point, New York
Stony Point is a triangle-shaped town in Rockland County, United States. Rockland County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, New York, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population...
; her father was an accountant who commuted to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Fahl has stated that as a child she used to sing along with her older sibling's records to practice her voice. She formed her first makeshift recording studio in the household bathroom. She attended Albertus Magnus High School
Albertus Magnus High School
Albertus Magnus High School is a Catholic, co-educational high school located in Bardonia, New York, named after the German philosopher and theologian of the same name...
, and graduated from North Rockland High School
North Rockland High School
North Rockland High School is a high school located in Thiells, New York, serving 10th to 12th grade students from the northern section of Rockland County, in southern New York. It is the only high school in the Haverstraw-Stony Point District....
. She later attended McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
to study medieval literature
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages . The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works...
.
After graduating, Fahl and her sister left the United States to spend 1½ years in Europe; she said that she received an "informal graduate degree in music" by checking out vinyl records at a library in Holland and listening to and analyzing them. She also earned money by house-sitting and singing in cafes.
October Project
In 1990, Fahl briefly considered attending a post-grad pre-med program at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Upon returning to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, she was introduced to lyricist Julie Flanders by a friend. Flanders introduced Fahl to Flanders' collaborator and boyfriend Emil Adler, a composer. Together with guitarist Dave Sabatino they formed the early incarnation of the band October Project
October Project
The October Project is a pop / rock band that was signed to major label Epic Records from March 1993 to June 1996.The members of the band during that time were Mary Fahl , Marina Belica , David Sabatino , Emil Adler , and Julie Flanders, the band’s lyricist, who did not perform with the Project on...
, with Fahl handling lead vocals. Fahl stated they "rehearsed forever, a year and a half sort of finding where we were." They soon added vocalist Marina Belica and began touring the coffee house scene with their original music, eventually releasing their self-titled debut in 1993 on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. They released a second full album, Falling Farther In, in 1995 on Epic, and the album made it to the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The group toured with acts such as Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
and Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
. The group disbanded in 1996, reforming in 2001 with Belica (lead vocals), Flanders and Adler.
While singer for October Project, the media occasionally depicted Fahl as "a goddess of Goth, a figure admired by followers of the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
movement." Fahl, however, has stated she does not identify as Goth. She has theorized that because she did not have much money at the time and chiefly wore one black dress to all public appearances, the media misinterpreted her image.
Commercial work
After leaving October Project, Fahl spent time earning a living by working in the commercial world. She say she's created "quasi-Arabic-sounding wordless soundscapes" for various commercials. She has also voiced spots for AudiAudi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
, Crystal Light
Crystal Light
Crystal Light is a low-calorie powdered beverage mix that offers naturally and artificially sweetened beverage options in multiple flavors. Originally marketed in 1982 with Linda Evans as its spokesperson, the company later had celebrities Raquel Welch and Priscilla Presley as spokeswomen...
, Russell Athletic, and Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price is a company that produces toys for infants and children, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. Fisher-Price has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel since 1993.-History:...
.
Solo career
After leaving October Project, Fahl embarked on a solo career. As a solo artist, she writes her own songs, usually in collaboration with other musicians.Lenses of Contact (2001)
Fahl released an EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Lenses of Contact, in early 2000 for Rough Mix Records. It featured four songs: "Raging Child", "Paolo", "Meant to Say", and "Redemption"; the title of the EP came from a line in "Paolo". The EP contained elements of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, rock 'n' roll, and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Jeffrey Lesser, a producer/engineer who has previously worked with Barbara Streisand, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, and The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, produced the EP. She toured to promote the EP backed a by a five piece band of rock musicians. Many of the members of her newly formed backing band later became the band Ollabelle
Ollabelle
Ollabelle is a New York based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.-History:...
.
Reviews
The EP was released to favorable reviews. Allmusic gave it 4½ out of 5 stars. They compared her to Mitchell and Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, although noting that she belted
Belt (music)
Belting refers to a specific technique of singing by which a singer produces a loud sound in the upper middle of the pitch range. It is often described as a vocal register although some dispute this since technically the larynx is not oscillating in a unique way...
more than Mitchell, and concluded, "This promising solo debut demonstrates that Fahl is a very spiritual and moving storyteller in her own right."
In a live review of a Lenses of Contact show, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
stated "while her former band was sometimes categorized as new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
, progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, or art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
because of its classical leanings, the solo Fahl has her feet firmly planted in classic rock, pop, and folk terrain."
The New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
wrote the EP "makes us embarrassed for both the mincing stampede of girl singers on the charts and for Fahl herself, who actually cares enough to sing, literally, from her guts, while daringly carving every phrase into dizzying terrain."
The Other Side of Time (2003)
Shortly after 9/11, Fahl auditioned with a compilation of demo material for executives at Sony Classical in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, including Peter Gelb
Peter Gelb
Peter Gelb is an American arts administrator. He is currently General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.-Early life:...
. She earned an album contract, and after several months working on material in studio, released her first full-length album in winter 2003. The Other Side of Time
The Other Side of Time
The Other Side of Time is the debut solo album from the American singer-songwriter Mary Fahl, released on May 27, 2003 by the newly formed Sony Odyssey label...
had 14 songs in all (three of which were originally featured on Lenses of Contact). She shares writing credits on 12 of the 14 tracks on album. It was again produced and engineered by Jeffrey Lesser, formerly responsible for her EP. Fahl toured across the country in support of the album's release.
Two songs on the album featured prominently on soundtracks. "Going Home" was written by Fahl to appear in the opening of the Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
film Gods and Generals
Gods and Generals (film)
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American film based on the novel Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara. It depicts events that take place prior to those shown in the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Shaara's father, Michael...
. The album's closing track, Fahl's version of the traditional Irish tune "The Dawning of the Day
The Dawning of the Day
The Dawning of the Day is an old Irish air composed by the blind harpist Thomas Connellan in the 17th Century. An Irish-language song with this name was published by Edward Walsh in 1847 in Irish Popular Songs and later translated into English as The Dawning of the Day...
," was featured in the film version of the Broadway play The Guys
The Guys
The Guys is a play by Anne Nelson about the aftereffects of the collapse of the World Trade Center. In the play, Joan, an editor, helps Nick, an FDNY captain, prepare the eulogies for an unprecedented number of firefighters who died under his command that day...
, along with several reprises of the song.
Style, themes
Fahl wrote her lyrics to "The Dawning of the Day" to honor firefighters who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Ronan Tynan
Ronan Tynan
Ronan Tynan is a singer in the classical Irish style. He is most famous for his renditions of "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium during important New York Yankees games, such as Opening Day, nationally-televised games, the last game at the old Yankee Stadium, and playoff games...
performed the song in 2006 at the re-opening dedication for the Seven World Trade Center.
The Other Side of Time showed some additional sides to Fahl's style, bringing in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
styles in "Una furtiva lagrima
Una furtiva lagrima
Una furtiva lagrima is the romanza taken from Act II, Scene VIII of the Italian opera, L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino when he finds that the love potion he bought to win his dream lady’s heart, Adina, works.Nemorino is in love with Adina, but she isn't interested in...
" and Middle Eastern influences in "Ben Aindi Habibi". These two tracks, which Fahl sang in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Mozarabic
Mozarabic language
Mozarabic was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in Muslim-dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th...
respectively, were the first non-English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
songs to appear on her records. "Ben Aindi Habibi" was a traditional kharja
Kharja
The kharja , also known as jarcha in Spanish, is the final refrain of a muwashshah, a lyric genre of Al-Andalus written in Classical Arabic or Hebrew....
written in the 11th century. Fahl said in an interview that she had discovered "Ben Aindi Habibi" while on tour with October Project and considered it her favorite song on The Other Side of Time. In an interview with Liane Hansen
Liane Hansen
Liane Hansen is an American journalist and radio personality who was senior host of the National Public Radio newsmagazine Weekend Edition Sunday until her retirement in May 2011...
of National Public Radio, Fahl stated that she performed these songs on The Other Side of Time because she was signed to a classical label and a pop label would not have let her make that type of record.
Reviews
Overall, The Other Side of Time met with largely positive reviews. The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune is the largest-circulated daily newspaper in the U.S. city of Salt Lake City. It is distributed by Newspaper Agency Corporation, which also distributes the Deseret News. The Tribune — or "Trib," as it is locally known — is currently owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group....
gave the Other Side of Time an "A" grade in a review, and Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
called her "a brasher, more exciting version of Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
and Sissel
Sissel Kyrkjebø
Sissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias...
" and concluded "Mary Fahl, thankfully, is not your typical pop singer. Somewhat unwieldy, but always interesting. More filmmakers should pay attention to the vocal talent on display in this CD."
A live Boston Globe review from August 2003 stated "Fahl has a voice for the gods. It is a compelling operatic pop instrument that can transport listeners to other realms. Her new album, The Other Side of Time, is a fascinating if sometimes slightly stiff mix of orchestral pop and riveting Celtic stylings a la Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
of Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, with occasional hints of Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
." A live review from June 13, 2003 show stated the concert "let loose Fahl's deep, almost operatic vocal range. Usually such stylized music doesn't lend itself to variation...Fahl broke free of all stylistic restraints."
A July 2003 review stated that Fahl is "Most certainly an Artist of the highest caliber," and "this is not rock and roll. No dance moves or funky grooves, either. She is unlike any other popular performer today. Her lyrics are deeper and richer, like a Marc Cohen
Marc Cohen
Marc Cohen is a radio personality who has spent over 30 years as a prominent Southern California announcer. He has performed on both television and radio and has a long running technology show, which is not only well respected, it is one of the most listened to shows on technology in the country...
or a less self-involved Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
. Her voice is a real treat, though. It is a force of nature, pulling you along as she rages against the heavens in full throttle; or softly, intimately singing to a private part of your soul that only she knew was there."
All-Music Guide praised her past work with October Project and her first solo EP but gave her only 2 out of 5 stars for The Other Side of Time, saying, "She still has the big voice, but she's opting for an easier course of being eclectic by tossing faint nods at different styles while trying to hew firmly to the center of the road."
From the Dark Side of the Moon (2011)
As of September 2006 Fahl completed the recording of From the Dark Side of the MoonFrom the Dark Side of the Moon
From the Dark Side of the Moon is a 2011 album released by singer/songwriter Mary Fahl. The album is a song-by-song "re-imagining" of Pink Floyd's classic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.-Production:...
, produced by Mark Doyle and David Werner and mixed by Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
. Doyle also provided nearly all of the instrumentation. The album is a song-by-song "re-imagining" of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's classic album The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
. Advance copies were not sent out, and the album remained unreleased for several years after V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
went out of business right before her release. Fahl self-released the album on May 10, 2011.
Reception
Publication Nippertown referred to the album as "mindblowing," while The Morton Report called it "brilliant" and "a worthy re-interpretation not to be missed."
The singer is expected to release a new originals album, Gravity, sometime in 2011.
Musical style, influences
Fahl has stated that she grew up listening heavily to her brothers' Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
records, as well as her sisters' Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
albums. She's specifically cited Joni Mitchell as being highly influential in her music. She's also referenced Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
and various film scores. Reviewers regularly have compared her to Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
, saying "both have a vocal grace and rich melodic sense that verges on Classical Music." Fahl has stated she and Enya are not really alike, as Enya is a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, while Fahl's voice is "earthier, a dusky contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
. Her sound is more worldless vocales, my material is much more rooted in the storytelling, singer/songwriter tradition."
In a May 2011 interview, Fahl stated that she now uses a solo acoustic style at all live performances.
Theater
After the release of The Other Side of Time, Fahl acted in a production of Murder Mystery Blues, a comedy which is based on short stories by Woody AllenWoody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
. Fahl and the other actors also served as musicians who performed the play's score. The play was originally performed at The Warehouse Theater in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and later moved to an off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
theater in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Personal life
Fahl currently lives in Easton, PennsylvaniaEaston, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
and is married to deep-sea oceanographer and marine biologist Richard A. Lutz
Richard A. Lutz
Richard A. Lutz is an American marine biologist and deep-sea oceanographer. He is known for deep-sea research using the Alvin submersible, and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the ecology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents....
.
.
Collaborations
- October Project, October ProjectOctober ProjectThe October Project is a pop / rock band that was signed to major label Epic Records from March 1993 to June 1996.The members of the band during that time were Mary Fahl , Marina Belica , David Sabatino , Emil Adler , and Julie Flanders, the band’s lyricist, who did not perform with the Project on...
(1993) - Falling Farther In, October Project (1996)
Solo career
Compilations
- Gods & Generals SoundtrackGods and Generals (soundtrack)Gods and Generals is the soundtrack to the 2003 film. Other than the opening and closing track, the album is entirely instrumental. It was critically praised for its thematic diversity and consistently high quality. It was even thought to be superior to the Gettysburg soundtrack composed by Randy...
(2003) – "Going Home" - The Guys: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackThe GuysThe Guys is a play by Anne Nelson about the aftereffects of the collapse of the World Trade Center. In the play, Joan, an editor, helps Nick, an FDNY captain, prepare the eulogies for an unprecedented number of firefighters who died under his command that day...
(2003), Sony Classical – "The Dawning of the Day", "My Beautiful, Gleaming...", "What They Were Waiting For", "Patrick" - Classics for a New Century (2003), Sony Classical – "Una furtiva lagrima"
Further reading
- Nippertown: Mary Fahl Interview (September 22, 2010)
- Chicago Music Guide|Chicago Music Guide: Interview with Mary Fahl (May 2011)
External links
- Mary Fahl Music on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...