How To Claim The Sky - Joining together separate musical components to form a style of music that is both unique and familiar can be a daunting task, unless your name is Wendy Stubbs and you are representing Alpha on their 4th vocal (8th overall) album, The Sky Is Mine. 2008 sees the U.S. release of The Sky Is Mine, a fantastic gaze into the twinkling after-hours alter-reality that juxtaposes organic roots with electronic fruits and lusciously airy vocals. Audible influences come from all angles and a short list (in alphabetical order) might start with: ambient, blues, cabaret, dance, electronica, folk, garage, house, instrumental, jazz..... the list goes on!The moments spent in the greatest of revelation transpired during the crescendos of Burn Me Again, with a clever layering of classical styled piano and modern synth with what sounds to be a xylophone on top of other electronic subtleties mixed into Wendy s soft and giving vocal offerings. Upon inception, the listener s mind can not help but to be flooded with information confirming the fact that beauty resides in everything and that we must be understanding of our neighbors, while at the same time letting go of our psychic apparatus and giving into the forbidden desires awakened by the spiritual power of music! For The Wages starts with a hint of a dub reggae influence mixing quickly with rock into a bluesy, lo-fi combination of Leonard Cohen/Beatles/Aretha Franklin/XTC/Tina Turner/Morcheeba complete with vinyl pops and a hint of country western. This is proof enough that as soon as the film industry hears this album, Alpha and Wendy Stubbs shall be commissioned to score film music for years to come! For The Wages could quite possibly be the last song I would ever want to hear before leaving this world--Brian Ball, Talent Director Silver waves crashing on bronze shorelines would be a respectful metaphor in relation to the softly modulated synth tones that swim alongside the angels humming and timeless piano of Silver Bullet. Again bombarded with generations of information flooding the brain, our spirits are lifted in song as we ride out the storm that is created from this beautiful onslaught of creativity and resources that has s elegantly been placed in our hands. Spaced-out downtempo with grand scale cinematic presence, not only will I recommend this release to my peers, but also to my parents!--Brian Ball, Talent Director
What happened?? - This is NOT Alpha! - Wow, what a disappointment this album was. First thing I noticed in the album sleeve was Andy Jenks missing in action. His only contribution being bass on Stargazing. I thought to myself, well that s okay let s give it a listen... 1st track Stubbs, 2nd track Stubbs, 3rd Stubbs, 4th, 5th... what!?! Where s Martin Barnard? Helen White? I felt I was totally had... this isn t Alpha anymore, it s Wendy Stubb s solo album under the guise of Alpha. I was soooooo looking forward to this album. The evolution of Martin Barnard s voice from its rough yet beautiful start in Come from Heaven to near perfection in Stargazing - completely missing! Stubb s voice simply cannot hold an entire album together... it sounds too monotone. While her previous work with Dingley/Jenks was quite nice, in my opinion she cannot pull off this solo effort. If you are new to Alpha, PLEASE do NOT buy this album first. Check out Come from Heaven or Stargazing. True Alpha fans will have to buy this album, just as I did, simply because it s from Alpha... don t expect much though.If anybody knows other projects Barnard, White, or Jenks have moved to, please let me know. BTW. I love how Mr. Brian Ball, talent director (!!), quotes himself twice in his own review(below)! That s hilarious.
How To Claim The Sky - Joining together separate musical components to form a style unique and familiar can be a daunting task, unless your name is Wendy Stubbs and you are the vocalist on the 4th vocal (8th overall) album for the band that is said to have out-done anything released by Portishead, Tricky or Massive Attack. 2008 sees the U.S. release of The Sky Is Mine, a fantastic gaze into the twinkling after-hours alter-reality that juxtaposes organic roots with electronic fruits and lusciously airy vocals. Influences come from all angles and a short list (in alphabetical order) would read something like ambient, blues, cabaret, dance, electronica, folk, garage, house, instrumental, jazz..... the list goes on!The moments spent in the greatest of revelation transpired during the crescendos of Burn Me Again, with a clever layering of classical styled piano and modern synth with what sounds to be a xylophone on top of other electronic subtleties mixed into Wendy s soft and giving vocal offerings. Upon listening, the listener s mind can not help but to be flooded with information confirming the fact that beauty resides in everything and that we must be understanding of our neighbors, while at the same time letting go of our psychic apparatus and giving into the forbidden desires awakened by the spiritual power of music!For The Wages starts with a hint of a dub reggae influence mixing quickly with rock into a bluesy, lo-fi combination of Leonard Cohen/Beatles/Aretha Franklin/XTC/Tina Turner/Morcheeba complete with vinyl pops and a hint of country western. This is proof enough that Alpha and Wendy Stubbs shall be commissioned to score film music for years to come! For The Wages could quite possibly be the last song I would ever want to hear before leaving this world--Brian Ball, Talent DirectorSilver waves crashing on bronze shorelines would be a respectful metaphor in relation to the softly modulated synth tones that swim alongside the angels humming and timeless piano of Silver Bullet. Again bombarded with generations of information flooding the brain, our spirits are lifted in song as we ride out the storm that is created from this beautiful onslaught of creativity and resources that has so elegantly been placed in our hands. Spaced-out downtempo with grand scale cinematic presence, not only will I recommend this release to my peers, but also to my parents!--Brian Ball, Talent Director