Free Flying Soul

Description

Free Flying Soul is a studio album by the American alternative rock band The Choir, independently released on the band’s own label Tattoo Records in February 1996, distributed by Benson Music Distribution.

In 1998, The Choir drummer Steve Hindalong released his solo debut album, entitled Skinny.

It’s hard to believe it was 1985 when The Choir released its first album. Because the band has never put out any less-than-good records and several great ones, it seems like it’s been around forever or at least long enough to be considered a distinguished veteran.

Another key to that longevity has undoubtly been The Choir’s rapid musical growth. You can trace the phases of its developement from brash new wave (Voices and Shadows/Shades of Gray/Diamond & Rain), to atmospheric pop (Chase the Kangaroo/Wide Eyed Wonder/Circle Slide), to the mature, often melancholy rock of Speckled Bird.

Now, there’s Free Flying Soul, whose very title suggests a band that has found new creative juices in simply being what it has grown up to be – four guys in their 30s, making music that’s relevant to that age group without copping an exclusionary attitude. Chief lyricist Steve Hindalong continues to draw on those closest to him for inspiration, as well as interjecting more direct spiritual overtones than is his custom. «The Ocean», for instance, sounds as if it could have come from the band’s At the Foot of the Cross series – “Disregard the wreckage / Under healing tide / All the shame / In Jesus’ name, was covered when he died.” Derri Daugherty and Jenny Gullen add a gorgeous duet vocal to the haunting track. The subdued atmosphere present through most of the disc frequently gives way to some tasteful solos by Daugherty on a number of more aggressive tracks. But like fine art, Free Flying Soul needs to be studied and savored; its intricacies offer greater understanding through repeated listening. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, April 1996]

Free Flying Soul is a little less noisy than the Choir’s previous album, Speckled Bird, landing somewhere in between the buzz of that album and the darkly ethereal guitar sound of Circle Slide (which after half a decade remains the band’s best album). The songwriting is a bit short on fresh ideas this time, and a few too many choruses slip into predictable rock anthem territory, but there also moments of alluringly adventerous intelligence. Lyrically, the songs are a characteristic mix of bizarre imagery (“yellow haired monkeys in the yard”), universal themes (light vs. darkness) and overtly Christian messages (“all the shame in Jesus’ name was covered when he died”). The most interesting song is «If You’re Listening», the Choir’s shadowy rumination on their own need for grace (“I’d rather be forgiven than enlightened”). Surrounded by prettily echoing ambient guitars, and underscored by a noisily thudding and buzzing Trent Reznor-esque bassline, the band frankly admits to egregious imperfections (“If you’re listening to me now, I wouldn’t blame you anyhow for running me out of town”). The song almost seems like an answer to Nine Inch Nails’ similarly produced «Hurt», in which Reznor bemoans his own faults. But while Reznor despairingly warns his friends to stay the hell away from him, the Choir expresses hope for redemption. Often, rock bands tend either to point only at the faults of others (the Angry Young Men paradigm), or to wallow in hopeless self-pity. At their best, the Choir strike a rare balance of hope and humility. [Darryl Cater, AMG]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/free-flying-soul/304831825)

CD tracklist:

01. Salamander – 3:24
02. Polar Boy – 4:34
03. Sled Dog – 3:01
04. Away With The Swine – 3:01
05. The Ocean – 4:16
06. If You’re Listening – 5:40
07. The Chicken – 6:29
08. Slow Spin – 1:48
09. Leprechaun – 2:46
10. Yellow-Haired Monkeys – 1:29
11. Butterfly – 4:05
12. The Warbler – 4:06

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Tattoo Records. Re-issued on 12-inch vinyl LP by the band in 2024, housed in a gatefold sleeve. (“While Sony Music owns the masters to FFS, they agreed to license the project so that we can release it for the first time on vinyl and remaster the CD by Lowland Masters in the UK. Sony even tracked down the original source mixes on DAT at the legendary Battery Studios in NYC (formerly The Record Plant).”)

A full-page advertisement for The Choir’s Free Flying Soul was featured in the July 1996 issue of CCM Magazine.