— Alex Kadis
As if trying to pull a Rolling Stone, Q Magazine had singer Terence Trent D'Arby "grace" its cover in June of 1993 wearing absolutely nothing, his member only covered up by a '...in the Q Interview' tag. Somehow or other this didn't convince otherwise neutral consumers from picking up his latest album. Sex sells but not necessarily shameless nudity.
Though they all failed to make the Top 10, the four singles taken from Terence Trent D'Arby's 1993 album Symphony or Damn did respectable business. Each one peaked somewhere in the teens with runs of four or five weeks apiece. Nothing spectacular but not bad and the sort of results that should have ensured that sales of his current L.P. would shore up. After-all, R.E.M. had been in a not dissimilar situation at around the same time with a series of not-quite smash hits contributing to the year's long success of Automatic for the People. Yet it didn't quite work out in similar fashion for D'Arby. The quartet of singles spent a total of seventeen weeks on the Top 40 while the album did just a dozen weeks on the equivalent listing — with the bulk of them coming in the thirties. By the time "Let Her Down Easy" was hitting the charts, Symphony or Damn was all but done.
Like "Everybody Hurts" (itself the fourth single from Automatic), "Let Her Down Easy" ought to have given him a big late-stage hit. While the record buying public loves a dramatic ballad, they no longer had much affection for the artist behind it. Quite why is another matter. Appearing starkers on the front of a popular music mag didn't help but the backlash came four years' earlier when second album Neither Fish nor Flesh came out. Hardly anyone noticed that it was out and those that did all seemed to dislike it. Kids who bought debut Introducing the Hardling According to Terence Trent D'Arby on cassette had moved on to the likes of Warrant and New Kids on the Block and Happy Mondays; yuppies who purchased it on CD had Tom Petty and Bonnie Raitt to be concerned with. That he managed to come back at all with a perfectly serviceable third album and a handful of singles that did okay is kind of remarkable all things considered.
Yes, perfectly serviceable. I think I overstated just how much I liked Symphony or Damn the last time I blogged about his nibs here. Full disclosure: I had never heard it prior to four months ago and I think its strengths really stood out while I was able to ignore its weaknesses. Such things happen when you've only given an album a single listen. It was brash with all of D'Arby vast talent on full display. I couldn't believe how all-over-the-place it was. Now, I find it a little too all-over-the-place. Some albums such as bassist Jaco Pastorius' self-titled debut and The Style Council's Cafe Bleu are erratic in the best possible sense but this doesn't quite work on Symphony. Clocking in at over an hour is far too long for a non-compilation, especially one with such a ludicrous range of styles that struggle to mesh with one another.
As far as the singles are concerned though, D'Arby's diversity is a point in their favour. As I have already stated, "Do You Love Me Like You Say?" is a groovy rocker featuring the singer as his full-throated best. Next up was "Delicate", a duet with British pop/R&B vocalist Des'ree. Vaguely Asian sounding, it's a bit of a grower that steers clear of your typical soul power ballad cliches. Coming up third was "She Kissed Me" which puts D'Arby in clear rock territory. The tempting comparison to make is with Lenny Kravitz, particularly when it comes to the song's accompanying video, but with far less of a reliance on riffs and better songcraft. If the song itself is a little less impressive than its predecessors (or, indeed, its follow-up), it certainly provides a welcome reminder of D'Arby's extraordinary vocal range.
And so we come to "Let Her Down Easy" which is probably the finest song the man ever created. A classy track to close out Symphony or Damn, D'Arby dispenses with all the instrumentation and all those different styles and paying homage to his many influences (As Steve Sutherland stated in a largely negative review in the NME, "'Turn The Page' is TTD does Dylan, 'I Still Love You' is TTD does country, 'Seasons' is TTD does Jimi) in favour of a simple but highly effective piano ballad. Alex Kadis describes it as "wonderful, haunting, graceful" and she's absolutely correct. And, again, how great of a singer is Terence Trent D'Arby?
As the quote above states, Kadis reckons "Let Her Down Easy" to be particularly moving if you've ever been besotted by someone who is either older or younger than you. Maybe but it's pretty fabulous either way really. I used to have a friend who once told me about the importance of keeping a romantic legend in one's memory. Have a spell with someone that goes fairly well and then move on without ever spoiling things in the future with a terrible break up or eventually getting back together. There might be some heartbreak and loneliness for a time but the wounds will heal in time and then you're left with the memory of someone who was just about the one but who slipped away. It's a nice thought and one that comes to mind when considering this single. The girl here is impressionable and full of life but that innocence could be snatched away at any time. If you're going to use her then at least try not to leave her in pieces when you inevitably skip town.
There's a deftness to both D'Arby's songwriting and overall performance. He's dealing with sensitive subject matter but he manages to sink into the nuances. This guy is probably a cad but he isn't painted as an outright monster. The girl is naive but you sense she knows what she's dealing with. This isn't a case of rape or abuse, more of a passing romance that is destined to end just as quickly as it started. Since it's just about done, why not try to end it in the best possible manner? Better to be remembered fondly than as a colossal mistake. Sex sells but bittersweet love keeps us coming back.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Urban Cookie Collective: "Feels Like Heaven"
Kadis hates their name (it isn't great but points for originality) and isn't overly fond of their latest single but otherwise okay, am I right? I've always quite liked "Feels Like Heaven" due to its addictive chorus and poppy techno dynamics but there is indeed something missing. Someone who is a dab hand at pop songwriting might have helped. (Terence Trent D'Arby for one) Much as I dig the verse-chorus back-and-forth, a middle eight would have been nice. Kadis claims ver Cookies are "at the forefront of the current batch of featureless, meaningless rave pap" and she's not wrong. Her giving them two out of five lacks a bit of generosity but there's no question this catchy record could have been a good deal stronger.
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