Review of World's End Amateur Melodramatic Society Ball-Peter Lacey by Peter Reum

Peter Lacey's new album...World's End Amateur Melodramatic Society Ball

When you find an artist you follow, you look forward to each new work as a new extension of that artist's body of work.  I had the privilege of hearing Peter's newest for the last few weeks, and it is a worthy companion to his previous recordings. World's End Amateur Melodramatic Society Ball has some of Peter's talent for catchy melodies and arrangements, but also inserts the listener into the life of a community, presumably in rural England, for a chance to see how the natives pass the time. Having grown up in a village in New Mexico in the USA, it was easy for me to relate to the pictures Peter painted in sound and words. The title track's video (on youtube) reveals a parish hall in a small village, and discusses the lengthy history of the use of the place, and the various ways it has been significant in the village's life. It is apparent that people in this place are people with a collective memory going back centuries, and that while they may no longer gather regularly for tea after church on Sunday, there is still a purpose to the place that transcends every day life. People gather to rehearse and present plays....the people in the troupe are there to enjoy each other's company and to entertain themselves and others.who care to see their productions. On a deeper level, the album slices off pieces of peoples' routines and unconscious actions....going through life with a routine that is so second nature that it is easy to lose touch with their humanity. In this sense, the parish hall has become a place where  people break their habitual routines and engage as a group, the  way people used to gather for ancient communal rites and later, Christian services. Peter goes on to catalog a variety of detachments from life that illustrate how simple and easy it is to fall into a routine and let life slide by without being aware. In my little village, the gathering places were the post office, the capillas (little neighborhood chapels), the barber shop, the grocery store, and for the brave at heart, the bars. Escaping the droll nature of village life and rising above it is the challenge. Peter's songs seem to show the listener that escaping  is more difficult that it might seem. He chronicles the self-satisfied  and smug nature of a man who has made his fortune in Percy Cute, a nod to many of the holier than thou types of people who often make life insufferable to the"have nots."  The challenge for the listener is not to judge such a personality, but to empathize. That is a tall order with a person like Percy. The type of lives people have in small communities often will pit persons in families against each other in the type of painful conflict Peter describes in Leave Well Enough Alone. At times people in families make decisions that pit parent against child or sibling against sibling. Whatever the reason for the conflict, the challenge is to transcend the antipathy and reestablish some level of intimacy. In life, bad habits such as addiction, or impulsive life decisions have ramifications unforeseen  in the moment such actions take place. Holding on to faith when life problems appear insurmountable is the subject of First Light...the song reminds me of many of the Psalms that David, King of Israel wrote.  When one is feeling backed  in a proverbial corner, there is no hope, and escape from the problem is the temptation...but escape into booze, drugs, or any other addiction is a postponement of the inevitable. We eventually have to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is so easy and so tempting to want to escape. Avenues for escape are the subject of some of Peter's other tunes herein. Maudlin Lane covers the wistful memories of a person who tries to go home to the sweet memories of the past. But, as many authors have said, one cannot go home again and experience the sweetness of those moments so delicious and so fleeting. As Abraham Maslow clearly pointed out in The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, we experience those feelings of euphoria only a few times in life, and they are to be cherished. It is when we try to regain that initial feeling of euphoria again and again and fail that we begin to escape into habits that prevent and block other peak experiences from occurring. How do we come to terms with daily droll living routines? Peter touches on it in a tune called I Didn't Get Where I Am Today. The protagonist of the song at first experiences frustration that he cannot meet his goals due to various distractions. In time, he accepts that time is not his, and that other priorities emerge. We are, as Alfred North Whitehead says both "being and becoming." Balancing joy for the unexpected and satisfaction in daily work and play is our challenge. Work, in and of itself can be an escape, and Peter's protagonist in Percy Cute has made his work his "god"....this leads into a song called Daisy Hawkins, who is a woman much like Eleanor Rigby. She has let her life slip by waiting for something "right." Whether it is the right man, lover, or whatever, it is painfully evident that she has let life slip by unconsciously, and is now in her twilight, awaiting the end. A marriage or relationship in which "I love you" has lost its meaning is the subject of Halfway House. Ironically, Halfway House is the term used for a person who needs time to reacclimate to real life after being in the ditch due to escapism into addiction. Whatever happened in this marriage, it is a separation, whether in relationship or in actual physical separation.  I am reminded of people who live a silent divorce next to each other while in the same  home or even the same bed. In the next song, They Are Playing Our Tune, whatever separation was happening has somehow taken place, and a person is closing down the local pub, seeing if there is anyone to take home with who to have relations. There  is no one to be with, so, the person greets the dawn on a dock. Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay..... The album concludes with a reprise of the same theme that it began with, and the book is closed, until we open it again....Peter's albums are always thought provoking, and this album is no exception. I am fortunate to have the chance to be asked to share my impressions of this work, and, for anyone who grew up in a small town, this album will ring in a familiar set of memories. It is interesting to note that our cells regenerate every 90 days....that is...we are physically different than we were three months ago, yet, somehow, our consciousness provides a sense of continuity. This paradox is the crux of this album. The interesting insight is...the more we grow, the more we stay the same, unless we make the conscious effort to live each moment fully. Perhaps this is the wisdom the avatars of this world have to share with us. In every event horizon, we are both who we have been and who we can be, yet unless we are living in the moment, mindfully, our life slides by quickly and silently, and we are left with regrets rather than contentment. Copyright 2012 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved Peter's album is again on Pink Hedgehog, and may be obtained at Itunes.