Album Notes

From the liner notes....

"The original version of this disc was known as 'Alice D.' I forgot it was actually called 'Samsara.' Mark Doyon of Wampus Multimedia approached me about reissuing this album and recognized the Sanskrit word on the spine so I had to admit, yeah, it's actually called 'Samsara.' More appropriate title, really, since it means 'plane of existence.' It does sound to me now like an existence I once tried to express. This album was always painful for me to listen to and still is, almost two decades after its creation. Its themes long ago vanished under the bridge, down the river, and merged with the obscure sea. Most of the songs are little therapies -- working out childhood traumas, new motherhood, romantic travails -- a collection of mournful soliloquies. At the time of its original release in 1990, I dubbed it 'The Reluctant Album.' Musically, the arrangements are shaky at best; I could have used a click track to keep everything together, so the rhythms are yinging and yanging all over the place. There are phrases here and there that I still think are lovely -- harmonies and percussion parts that work nicely. This was a solitary effort and represents what I could do by myself, for myself. It reminds me of very lonely and difficult times. 'Samsara'? I can now answer: sola fide."

--Alice Despard, May 2006