Dusty Limits: Grin

  • Post author:
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Dusty Limits

Grin

July 26, 2015

Reviewed by Mychelle Colleary for Cabaret Scenes

Dusty-Limits-Grin-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Before the recent resurgence of revue or songbook‐style cabaret in London, the “new cabaret” scene in the U.K. was (and still is) dominated by more variety and burlesque‐type entertainment. At the forefront of this genre is the multiple award‐winning neo‐Weimar, cabaret noir compère, singer, and provocateur Dusty Limits.

online pharmacy generic

With his wry humor and unflinchingly irreverent societal diatribe, he may not be everyone’s cup of tea. He is, however, an undeniably gifted live entertainer with solid singing chops and a dashing persona that is in equal parts dark and dapper—a cross between romantic ideals of vampires and Gatsby socialites.

Yet even after 15 (successful) years of collaborating in songwriting and live performance with pianist/arranger Michael Roulston, it is not surprising that Limits would still shy away from trying to capture the ineffable quality of live performance, confessing to Roulston: “Recording a song is like trying to pin a butterfly while it’s still alive.”

Indeed, sitting in the audience at the CD launch party performance (at the perfectly appropriate Wonderground, a 1920s Paradiso Spiegeltent London summer venue near the Thames), I wondered how the vibrant, carefully choreographed, audience‐captivating, birth‐process‐referencing performance of songs would translate to a studio recording.

Grin is a recording of 13 original songs. Across the tracks you can hear the stylistic influence of many of those Limits has covered in live performance: Tom Waits, Portishead, Kurt Weill and Cole Porter. Some songs feel nostalgic; others, modern and moody, sultry, jazzy, emotive or contrastingly quick, quirky, pithy and playful, naughty, misanthropic, darkly humorous. But the overarching impact is cinematic, a soundtrack to a (less pedestrian) Tim Burton movie, or (a future) Sondheim cast recording.

Roulston’s skill as a composer (and especially an arranger) shines in his ability to take what were visual affectations in the live show and articulate that same sentiment via lush strings, haunting horns and driving rhythmic features that serve as the perfect canvas for wordsmith Limits’s tuneful sinister storytelling.

Given Limits’s superlative prowess as a live entertainer, his trepidation of endeavouring to capture the soul of these songs in a recording does have merit. However, it is evident that his classical vocal training, along with refined acting skills, is more than enough to convey a wink and a nod on selections such as “Is It Too Late” (“…to abort me”) and “Drink!” (“…ourselves to death”), as well as to convey abject loneliness in “Silhouette Town” using audio alone. Equally, after years of collaboration, Roulston grasps the breadth and depth of the eloquent text, intelligent subtext, and biting social commentary of Limits’s lyrics, his music serving as creative amplification, bringing the energy of a live performance into the studio recording with layered textures of sound.

Grin is well worth a listen; it is well sung, well played, well produced. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, thinking one might need to be an intoxicated cabaret reveler to enjoy the material. But, the more I listened. the more I enjoyed it, especially the smart choices that went into crafting and capturing a performance that stands on its own as something separate from, but equal in enjoyment to, a live performance. Though fair warning: there are a couple of earworms, the most insidious of which is “Poor” that will get stuck in your head (for days).

online pharmacy generic

Enjoy.

Mychelle Colleary

Mychelle Colleary (native Californian, honorary New Yorker and now Londoner) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from San Jose State University. Her first professional acting role was at 18 and she worked in theater for two years before attending University. As a jazz vocalist, Mychelle has performed internationally and has shared the stage with greats such as Carl Anderson, Clare Fischer and Bobby McFerrin. She currently divides her time between project management (design & communications) and being on a stage or in an audience. From musical theater to classical to folk rock to jazz to cabaret, Mychelle brings her collective professional experience and insight to reviewing.