Multifuse -
Journey To The Nesting Place


(CD 2008, 47:13, Crooked Cat Music)

The tracks:
  1- Hypnotise(6:58)
  2- Day To Day / Your World(8:41)
  3- Answer You(6:42)
  4- Yours Again(24:53)
         - To Be Yours Again
         - Someone Near Here
         - Life Becomes A Picture
         - Now Is Never
         - Moonlight
         - Final Beginning

Multifuse Website        samples        Crooked Cat Music


Unfortunately it sometimes happens that we overlook a very good album. In practice this means that it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Such an album is Journey To The Nesting Place recorded by British band Multifuse. This album was already released in 2008, but picked up by most people two years later. Thanks to a friend from abroad this special project formed by Peter Fallowell came under my notice. However, the music of this project was not brought about in Mr. Fallowell's home country. Together with his wife he moved to France and there he found the perfect surroundings for writing and recording his music.

It took Peter Fallowell sixteen years to release his fine debut album Journey To The Nesting Place. In a dialogue I had with him (see interview), he told me that this concept album is an exploration of dreams and nightmares, admission of fears and the need to be loved. He used the name Multifuse because of his musical background including classical, rock and jazz influences. According to Peter Fallowell the album can be regarded as a modern symphony containing ten individual sections that can be best listened to from beginning to end without a pause. He also stated that Multifuse's music can be lightly classified as heartfelt symphonic rock with classical, folk and jazz influences.

When you listen to this album you must conclude that multi-instrumentalist Peter Fallowell is right: as a matter of fact it is a progressive rock album with many influences. With the help of the excellent female singer Cherie Emmitt and the wonderful bass player Tom Allen, Fallowell recorded a very strong album on which he played all the other instruments and some of the vocals. His performance on the drums, guitar and keyboards is strong as you can hear throughout the album, but the most striking is his playing on the electric piano, especially on the first two tracks Hypnotise and Day To Day/Your World. Right from the start these songs strongly reminded me of Supertramp's Dreamer and It's Raining Again. Fortunately the music of Multifuse has much more to offer. The beautiful orchestral parts move towards a musical with hints of Dead Can Dance or Karda Estra. This is especially the case during the almost 24-minute epic Yours Again which is divided into six parts. On this strong piece you'll notice that Peter Fallowell must have been influenced by classical composers like Mahler and Bruckner. So in that respect, it's not so strange that he called his work a modern symphony.

Other musical references on the album might be the music of Mike Oldfield and The Alan Parsons Project because of the way the songs are composed. On the other hand, due to the folky elements on some tracks and the strong vocals of Cherie Emmitt, the music sometimes moves in the direction of Iona. Sometimes she sounds like Joanne Hogg, at other times her voice is reminiscent of the voice of Christina Booth from Magenta. In many respects Cherie Emmitt is an important factor on this dark album that you certainly must play as a whole in order to enjoy this musical journey the best.

During the interview Peter Fallowell promised me that we can enjoy a new musical journey in 2011. I don't know whether it will become again a dark and sad album, but what I do know is that we don't have to wait another sixteen years to listen to a new album written by Fallowell. I'm certain that he again will deliver an outstanding album in the vein of Journey To The Nesting Place.

**** Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)

Where to buy?






All Rights Reserved Background Magazine 2013