“Alexandria, Falling”, an instrumental EP originally crafted by Julean Rai in 1999 and recorded in 2007, has officially been released in the online store at TheRaiBand.Com. Both downloads and physical CD distribution is available for this release. The full EP can be downloaded for $4.49 (payments are processed securely through PayPal and downloads are available immediately following order and checkout) and individual tracks for $0.79 ea. This release includes two sub-tracks not available on the Amazon, iTunes, or eMusic releases.
The “Alexandria” EP, which began solely from the single track, “1:1 Alexandria, Falling” was written in 1999 by Julean Rai as Julean’s only political piece. Later, with the popularity of the song in live shows, ringtones, and among fans, Julean expanded the (previously 9 minute opus) into an experimental concept album based on the same theme.
Julean explains his motivation for redefining the song “Alexandria” and giving a new home on an EP:
“It was always something I had considered, even when I first started performing the song with [previous band] AXIS in Colorado. The idea was, to take the one idea, that always had several movements and many things being said at once, and split them up into more…more definitive themes with a more fleshed-out concept and a well thought-out package. Instead of dragging one song through seven movements, for a recording it was probably better to have seven short, strong songs that really echoed the concept that they were written to explain..”
In the end, the tracks on the “Alexandria, Falling” EP neatly fit together to form one song, with each concept bleeding into the next and performed in real-time (one take, 42 minutes total). On several songs, the tuning and detuning begins or ends the movement and becomes part of the song, taking us from one idea into the other. The music itself is an ecclectic fusion; a mix of indian and egyptian rhythms with a slight touch of arabic rai — all against the backdrop of orchestral soundtrack-style rock.
For Julean Rai, known primarily as a singer-songwriter, “Alexandria” is Julean’s second album (“Pretty Things / Shanna’s Planet” being the first, from 2000) where lyrics play only a minor role; appearing briefly in only two of the seven tracks. In fact, apart from the background vocals heard during the bridge in “1:3 The Handbasket” and the “blow-out” vocal performance on “1:1 Alexandria, Falling”, Julean’s voice is rarely heard during the album.
“I wanted to keep things like lyrics and vocals out of the mix, this time. I mean my first love was piano, and I didn’t really sing much if at all back then when I played that instrument. For me, things like this, which is really more of a soundtrack, should tell their own story. Too many lyrics would be cheating; like a narrator [...] I also almost left the lyrics out of ["1:1 Alexandria, Falling"] too, honestly, but I thought that fans of the song who’d been waiting for this recording would be kind of upset about that.”
But what is it all about? Is the album political? Besides the raging Indian sitar-esque guitar solos and the wall of Dumbeks, is there a message or angle behind the “Alexandria, Falling” album? Julean says that he will never tell:
“Honestly, there’s definitely a message, for me, especially as I was recording and separating [Alexandria] into different movements the message itself became clearer and clearer — I only helped it along. But it’s one of those things that dies or is meaningless if you tell about it, really. I think I didn’t spend an enormous amount of time cloaking the album in mystery or anything, I … I mean “Alexandria” is pretty loud and vocal and “Closing” doesn’t hide much, but…think of it, as I do, as something you kind of “get”, or you don’t. It’s not really something to be discussed. I will say it’s about my country, and there’s a slight, dark, prophetic edge to it, but … that’s it. It’s satire. That’s important to know. But other than that … I’ll probably never tell if I can help it –”
Fans can stream the entire EP for free and download the “Alexandria, Falling” EP by going to the discography page / shop at:
http://theraiband.com/julean-and-the-rai-shop-discography/julean-and-the-rai-alexandria-falling-ep/
“1:1 Alexandria, Falling” Copyright 1999 Julian Rai (BMI). “Alexandria, Falling” EP Copyright Julean Rai (BMI), Julean and the Rai (BMI) 2007, All rights reserved.
Album artwork for “Alexandria, Falling” by Benjamin Bader (http://www.benjaminmbader.com/).
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