Welcome to part 2 where we take you behind the curtain of Jeff Martin’s new release The Seven Deadly Sins. If you know of Jeff through his solo work or through The Tea Party, the one thing you will already know is that he never does anything by halves. His approach to the song writing, performance and production is meticulous and methodical, which always shines through in the finished product. The Seven Deadly Sins is no different. From start to finish, the listener is transported on a journey through Jeff’s Mind and Soul, and the end result is something simply quite stunning.
- (Lust) Sevhet Nora – Middle eastern start, a sound Jeff is known for best. Dante defined lust as the disordered love for individuals, in this Jeff almost seems to lust for the life he wants only to find his way home. His vocal and instrument harmony creates a theme which is evident across the whole album (maybe Jeff might be able to enlighten or correct me on that one), but it’s amazing to hear him use his voice as a standalone instrument beyond the lyrics. It also shows the contrasts of light to dark of sorts between the Middle Eastern vibes to full electric bombast.
- (Gluttony) Down On Your Knees – could be walking through any middle eastern market hearing this kind of sound. More vocal harmonies really fill out the song. Jeff highlights why a glutton doesn’t care about what they waste or who they leave to waste in the process with lyrics like “Such a sad lament, you never thought about the cost” “In the end I know, what you feed your soul”.
- (Wrath) So Bitter – This one came to Jeff through Adelaide band Six Hours, and Jeff takes the uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred. There is a certain level of Vengeance in Jeff’s voice and the power of the music, which is really cinematic, I imagine this one being at the end credits of the movie, and the credits fade to black the song ends, leaving you with that uneasy feeling of what’s next to come
- (Greed) Sorted And Sold. Dark Ominous intro, then contrasting into quite bright instrumentation. The amazing percussion and drumming Lyrics like “Casting A Shadow As Deep As The Sea” highlights how greed (or any sin for that matter) can spoil a good situation with something unpleasant Same vocal style harmony lines
- (Envy) Send Her My Love . Only pride weighs down the soul more than envy among the capital sins. Like pride, envy has been associated directly with the devil. This is an amazing acoustic song that tells the story of pining for a lost love knowing they have moved on, and wishing it was you instead, but clearly your selfishness outweighed all
- (Pride) Blinded By Pride is considered the original and worst of the seven deadly sins on almost every list, the most demonic. This is almost the rise before the fall that comes though in the next and final track. The music in this one back to the middle eastern vibes, the musical brightness is polar opposite to the darkness of lyrics like “The pressure is heavy” “you feel so empty inside”
- (Sloth) You Move So Slow Unlike the other seven deadly sins, which are sins of committing immorality, sloth is a sin of omitting responsibilities. Lyrics like “im safe amongst the stars” and “descending again into shame, i move so slow” seems to indicate not only turning one’s back on what’s in front of them but hoping not to face reality.
The biggest thing beyond how epic these songs and stories really are, is the playing. The style of music Jeff makes, in others hands would be grounds for someone to go deep on self indulgent over playing, but this is not the case for both Jeff and Darren. They play for the song, you can tell the song is King for them both, and they make sure they get the story across to go along with it. This is not a “playlist” this is an album, you need to go front to back, and for the people who receive this on Vinyl, I think these songs and this album will lend itself to vinyl so well. Once again Jeff delivers, The Seven Deadly Sins is a beautiful journey through a range of soul baring emotions and ultimately his love for what he does
