The Happiness Project Works

2009 is shaping up, musically. First Animal Collective drop the album of a lifetime. Stellar follow-up by longtime favorites like Andrew Bird & M. Ward. New favorites Fol Chen, The Bird & The Bee, Here We Go Magic and Frances. I like what I'm hearing.

And just when I thought my ears were full and I couldn't take in another note, along comes a humongous breath of fresh air like Charles Spearin and his Happiness Project. From the first 12 seconds you can tell this album is gonna be a trip. Introspective "lyrics" give way to aping melody and when the conversations begin to trade off between interviewer & interviewee you are already locked in. From there it only gets better. I've never heard music approached in this manner.

In the album’s liner notes, Charles took time to write a bit of an explanation on the idea behind the project.

“These are my neighbours. My wife and I have two little kids and live in downtown Toronto.” Spearin explains, “In the summertime, all the kids in the neighbourhood play outside together and everyone is out on their porch enjoying each other’s company, telling stories and sharing thoughts. A year or so ago I began inviting some of them over to the house for a casual interview vaguely centered around the subject of happiness. In some cases we never broached the subject directly but none-the-less my friends began to call it my “Happiness Project”.

After each interview Spearin would listen back to the recording and examine the thoughts expressed. In addition, he noticed a natural melody and cadence to the speaking voices of his neighbours as they each discussed their views on “happiness”. “It has always been interesting to me how we use sounds to convey concepts,” says Spearin. “Normally, we don’t pay any attention to the movement of our lips and tongue, and the rising and falling of our voices as we toss our thoughts back and forth to each other,“ he continues, “We just talk and listen. The only time we pay attention to these qualities is in song.

With The Happiness Project, Spearin blurs the line between speaking and singing - life and art - and writes music based on these accidental melodies. With the help of some of his musician friends, Charles plays the instruments to match these natural neighbourhood melodies inspired by thought and happiness and then, as Charles concludes, “I arranged them as though they were songs. All of the melodies on this album are the melodies of every day life.

I linked to his myspace in there and on the sidebar a while down. His album comes out today, Valentines Day, how appropriate.

Do yourself a favor...