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The Starfirefive: Degree of Focus
Disclaimer: Just because an album has eleven
songs that all sound pretty similar doesn't mean that the composer has no
imagination. Starfirefive is a one-man show, which is evident
upon listening to the projects 2002 debut album Degree of Focus. It
feels awkward talking about a solo effort and referring to the artist in the
plural form but here we go... James Willard is a guy from Stockbridge, GA who
sounds emotionally distraught. He might be the guy at the sketchy coffee shop that you
only go to once in a while because the usual gang of misfits and degenerates
stare you down endlessly until you make your purchase and walk out the door.
You'd see him in the corner, frantically writing his dark feelings of rejection
and pain in his notebook. My take on his music is that its not something that
you can listen to with other people. A song like "Salvation" makes you
wonder why people fall in love in the first place. With lyrics like, "I
really needed your salvation - I never was that strong," you feel his
despair with every squirming cringe of your body. The Starfirefive person has a sound that reminds
me of playing Depeche Mode records at a slow speed. Think of The Smiths without
the pop and of a singing style close to that of Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
There is a latent desire to be like the Cure here, but that can never
happen again. No one will ever recreate what the Cure did in terms of a tortured
vocalist weeping over such crashing doom-ridden music. While Willards roots and influences are more
than clear, he doesn't do much to show versatility in his singing. Most likely,
his aim is not to reinvent himself all over the course of one LP, so it's
understandable that he becomes the saddest person ever by the end of the album.
With songs like, "A Lesson in Drowning" and "For Every Lie,"
he adds effects to the sound by using different vocal track layering. This seems to works for many artists, but here the message is
lost on me. On "For Every
Lie," there is a chorus of vocals over top of a creepy monotonic reading of
a soul-searching narrative on an untrue love.
You can't help but feel bad for poor James Willard, but even if it's just
for a brief moment, you have to question his melodramatics here. I wonder if
he'll be completely over the big breakup that inspired this album by the time he
becomes a big rock star. Hopefully, the Starfirefives future work will contain more musical diversity without every song about a love lost. It's fine in moderation, but perhaps the lyrics could be less specific. Even though its often better to be organic with what you are feeling, marking everything down as it comes to you, this album shows only one side of the argument. Upon listening to Degree of Focus, it is recommended that you take note of the artist's claim that this music is designed for "rainy drives and break-ups."
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