Fallow State's The Cove is a Celebration of Honesty
Photo by Mira Landry
By Maddy Cristall
A band like Fallow State doesn’t come around very often. Their music executes an intimacy that seems almost illegal. It’s as if we don’t deserve their generously emotional songs, especially in such isolated times. This is the power of music, it reminds us we are not alone even when we feel the shackles of paralyzing loneliness. Fallow State’s latest EP- The Cove is nothing short of tear-inducing sonic gold. Fallow State is what you would call west coast folk. It is a genre that bleeds with passion while being engulfed in cozy instrumentation. Both Adrienne and Chris have thunderous voices, poetic sensibilities and big personalities that somehow pairs perfectly.
The Cove marks their growth into a fully fleshed out 4 piece band that celebrates friendship and connection. They recorded the album at Vancouver’s iconic Afterlife Studios. The band recalls the recording process as being a time to “watch their songs mature, grow and come to life.” It has been said that writing songs is like having children. If that’s the case, these children are beautiful creatures. Both Adrienne and Chris are gifted at songwriting which is apparent the second you hear them which needs one paramount ingredient-inspiration.
Adrienne is inspired by “telling stories, expressing difficult emotions, being creative, generating ideas and putting them into songs/sounds that resonate with feelings and emotions”. Chris, on the other hand, says he is inspired by “ Living. I write in blocks. I’m always playing around with bits and pieces of songs and keeping notes or clips of audio on my phone. Then every few months, it seems, I’ll sit down and start fleshing all those ideas out over a few weeks.” It is clear that The Cove derives from deeply personal places inside of them. You have to have a cast-iron heart not to feel that through this piercing body of work. Another important ingredient to heart-felt music like this is band dynamic. The two say that the key to communication is “being honest and real with each other. Being collaborative. Give and take. Partnership. Teamwork. And of course, having a unified goal of having fun sharing what we love!”
The Cove is bathed in the feeling which is probably the music that we need during these grim times. This pandemic will absolutely affect the future of music, it just a matter of how. Adrienne believes that “ music has always brought us together for the communal experience of emotion and connection and has always inspired emotions to bubble up and out, either through the creation or listening of it.” Chris says that “ my hope is that it takes some of the shine off of the concept of “perfection” that has overrun the artform. Many high profile artists are sharing their music from their homes right now and it is not being produced in a studio with high costs all around. They are exposing the truth that all it takes is some chords, a story and the honesty to share it.”
That is truly the theme to The Cove and Fallow State at large-honesty. Whether that truth is in being transparent, vulnerable or expressive. Turns out the truth sounds really damn good, The Cove is now available on all streaming platforms.
Check it out here