Achilles Was a Hound Dog

15 years ago, Ralfe Band delivered two opuses of fragile but colourful beauty. Swords (2005) and Attic Thieves (2008) guided the listener through imaginary landscapes that owe as much to Appalachian folk as to Balkan music. A tasty mix, sometimes burlesque, sometimes bucolic, but always dreamy and mischievous. Ten years have passed since Ralfe Band's third album Son Be Wise (2013). In the meantime, Oly Ralfe has recorded a solo instrumental disc, Notes From Another Sea (2018), a collection of piano pieces, then a live opus with a classical ensemble (Live at St Pancras Old Church, 2020), finally a rowdy single "Sweating It Out" (2019). Enigmatic, far from any calculations or constraints imposed by the industry, the musician demonstrates a philosophy of "Life follows its course, events can call into question a straight line, and everything can take much longer than you think". Achilles Was A Hound Dog reshuffles the cards, for our pleasure. In the singular universe of Oly Ralfe, these ten compositions open up new perspectives. The introductory "Pale Fire" (taking its title from Nabokov's novel of the same name) is an addictive windswept anthem. "I felt nervously alert; Suspicious without knowing why" sings Oly. Dreams, stories of metamorphosis, redemption by nature and love on "More Than Enough" : "I am a pelican, I am a cormorant, I am a drifting shark".