Fay Hallam Trinity

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Fay Hallam Trinity released Realm in 2006 on the Biff!Bang!Pow! label. Here are some reviews from around the world...

We don’t write these reviews ourselves, but if we did, they’d look like this...

Following on nicely from last months Makin’ Time piece comes Fay’s latest offering, a long player CD titled 1975 that kicks off with said song and immediately takes you back to Makin’ Time. The ‘Wade In The Water’ style piano intro, constant drum and tambourine beat hook you immediately, and then the Hammond organ kicks in. Nice.... And then thee’s the lyrics; Chopper bikes, playing in the rain (and some girlie stuff like white boots, Alvin Stardust, David Essex). Remember then?

Turn My World Around is next and again we have a soulful intro to get your feet tapping before Fay’s distinctive vocals begin, all in a beautiful minor key. Springboard is another good example of how to blend classic 60s musical style and recreate it today : Gently does it, add subtle soulful bass and use understated keys - result, step back in time without realising. The Longest Night sees the pace slow a little, and Harriet is a tremendous tune when turned up loud in your headphones. Skip to Astrud and we’re back to an upbeat, funky Hammond-led instrumental with a hint of the Med in the swinging Sixties. Groovy baby...

Seeds crashes in with a psychedelic fuzzy intro, Fay’s vocals once again reminding who she was, the song reminding where she’s from. It’s a powerful song and I just love the sound of those hands crashing down on the keys for the crescendo towards the end. The album goes on like this, contagious numbers that you’ll enjoy, especially if you were a fan of Makin’ Time or anything similar. Really Like You is the penultimate track, guitar led, almost bluesy yet unmistakably Fay Hallam. And the we finish with Rare, a great climax to a great album.

Andy Gillard

Editor, Scootering Magazine

"Realm" was preceded by an anthem-oriented EP that dusted off the Prime Movers' final single as if it was honouring an unfulfilled prophecy to pick up that lost thread and re-establish it here and now, but on a bigger and brighter mission than ever before. While "Realm" certainly stands on it's own, "We Live To Shine" is effectively the pre-title sequence, and does add shape to the idea that there is something deliberate and profound going on here.

Each time I break out "Realm" for review I get so caught up in the feeling of it that I lose the task at hand. I've had a crush on Fay's songwriter-Driscoll-meets-Bowie vocal style ever since the Prime Mover's "Earth Church". There was always this kind of suppressed guilt in my feeling that they had achieved something more than The Prisoners..."that" in no small part was due to Fay Hallam...many will disagree, but now I'm guilt-free. As James Taylor did with "Message From The Godfather", we all make fantastic leaps forward in our own mysterious good 'ol time.

And here it is Fay's turn. "Realm" really is one of those untouchable albums within the canon of a musician (think "Led Zeppelin IV"). Transcendental for the fan who has thus far played along casually and will find his own expectations left in the dust. I imagine that Fay will do something grander in the future, but it seems unlikely that it will be as dramatically propelled forward as this. "Realm" is the beginning of a new Fay Hallam, perhaps a legend even, and undoubtedly has sidestepped the "more of the same" establishment.

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