Changes - A Ripple In Time

A Ripple In Time is a collection of previously unreleased Changes songs written during their formative stages and largely left unrecorded until now. Together with some newly recorded songs A Ripple In Time is intended to bridge the gap between its inception to its present incarnation. Changes have such a rich history and perhaps these songs featured in their repertoire of songs they performed at Chicago coffee houses and fairs during the early seventies. Their past is linked to the darker undercurrents of that epoch, most notably in the activism of their singer, R.N. Taylor a self-confessed dissident, and in their nebulous association with the Process Church of the Final Judgement. Since their reformation at the behest of Michael Moynihan (of Blood Axis) their series of heroic and apocalyptic ballads laced with mythical imagery have found willing ears amongst the neo-folk fraternity.

So you may be surprised to find that much of A Ripple In Time deals with romantic ballads, of youthful vigour and hopeful dreams of love and yearning. There's a simplicity to the work of Changes, with Nikolas Tesluk's fast acoustic strum, and Taylor's worldly wise baritone vocal, with the duo voices at times converging into almost sixties west coast harmonies. There is a knowing wisdom in their voices that have grown rough in the years since these tracks were birthed. The opening song 'Deja Vu' is an eloquent remembrance of lovers recalled from past lives. 'Wedding Song' is precisely that; a gift of love penned by Taylor to his second wife to commemorate their marriage. It's reprised as a piano based instrumental, sweetened by a soft-string accompaniment. Carnal delights are explored on 'Something In The Night' its tenderness heightened by a touching piano score. 'Autumn Day', 'A Ripple In Time' and 'Another Day' all ruminate on human mortality and, in particular, the inevitable passing of time captured so succinctly in the latter with the lines: "Men are born and then they pass away. Nature makes the games they play".

Tesluk contributes some instrumental tracks; the elegant finger picking of 'Paradiso' with passages of the brisk guitar strokes so favoured by Changes, while a Spanish melody can be detected in the quickened strum of 'Eldorado'.

The Tex-Mex border town of 'Juarez' serves as the basis for Taylor's paean to a fallen woman, who like most things, has succumbed to money, gold, and greed. The album closes with 'Book of Misery', a sober reflection from Taylor on a love that has slipped town leaving his dreams unfulfilled. And while the lyrics, written almost as an open letter, point to his dreams being left in tatters there remains a fountain of hope in the lines, "I hope sometime, You'll stop and think of me."

In many ways A Ripple In Time is a backwards glance to their past - of broken marriages, missed opportunties and thwarted dreams, in as much as it is a testament to the enduring relationship between these cousins. The whole album features such bittersweet sentiments, that are odds with the honeyed melodies and timeless music, that it can't fail to captivate anyone with a heart and soul. A Ripple In Time is currently available a double vinyl LP on white vinyl in a gatefold sleeve on the White Label label, with a CD pressing scheduled for later in the year. For more information go to www.highfiber.com/~thermite/