Chris Robley
Movie Theatre Haiku
Cutthroat Records
8/10
Chris Robley isn’t a cookie-cutter musician. Much of his recordings, from his 2005 debut album onward, have been difficult to categorize. Some tracks can be described as a sort-of techno-rock, others are more sparse and instrumental in nature. Nearly all of them are weird- like Tim Burton weird- and Movie Theatre Haiku is no exception. What makes this one different from the others is its scale- Robley reportedly brought in an orchestra to record a few of the tracks. Yet despite the rich layering of the tracks, the album manages to capture a haunting ambience that is as painful as it is luscious.
Far from a standard EP, the songs trace the story of several unidentified lovers as they drift through a world filled with death and loneliness. One of the tracks, “The Night at the Film Festival,” chronicles the death, both literal and figurative, of a couple’s union. Still another, “Premiere,” is about a packed house of theatre goers, and an acting troupe as they struggle to communicate with each other. All are connected to each other in some way, although it isn’t exactly clear how or why. It is a musical version of Six Degrees of Separation, except with corpses.
Musically speaking, the album is the most intricately produced in years. Nowhere does the orchestra overshadow Robley’s voice, or are tracks uneven. Armadas of strings synch up with cymbals, and horns cover the flanks of pianos, creating an army of sounds that chill to the bone. Listening to the album, one gets the sense that Robley, along with his band the Fear of Heights, locked themselves in a room for an entire year, watched an entire encyclopedia of gothic and foreign films, and emerged with the demo tape.
To be sure, a lot of the credit belongs to techno-funk guru Jeff Stewart, whose handling of the electronic tracks on the album provided it with its eerie sound. Yes, some of the tracks are hard to get into at first- witness “Baltimore Fugitives.” But if there is ever an argument for the reemergence of the concept album, this record is it. Though not everyone will go for it, for those who want their music to sound like the soundtrack to A and E’s Breakfast with the Arts, this is an album for the ages.
-John Winn