Album Notes

Wordblender's In Vino Veritas is an extraordinary album that is nearly impossible to categorize. Spoken word? Yes... but no. There is a light on in the underground music/art scene and that light is Wordblender. This Seattle-based music & poetry fusion is led by R J May’s words and Pnapper’s musicianship. Together they weave an interesting tapestry of sound. Their debut CD, In Vino Veritas, houses songs of emotional depth and breadth spanning across multiple genres of music. The lyrics are read aloud, not sung. Spoken, not rapped... but yet this is not a typical "read your poem to the sounds of a meandering piano" translation. Pnapper's musical compositions give R J May a perfect foil for his poetry & stories; unique artistic expression unheard of in music circles of today. In one fell swoop they have changed the Spoken Word genre for the better, they have upped the ante. This album is heavy, not heavy-metal mind you, but heavy emotion, heavy imagery, heavy wordplay. It is high art best listened to alone after a long night out on the town... in the wee hours of morning when you sit, half blown apart by the wretchedness of being inside yourself. It is presented as a moving book that flows song to song or chapter to chapter. It gets under your skin and will not let go.

A quick rundown of Wordblender’s In Vino Veritas:
The opening jazzy diatribe of "Red Envelopes" encapsulates alcoholic desperation that moves to the sexy lounge groove of "Barstool". "Lover, Dance For Me" is pure love mixed with naughty fetish sex-kinks layered deep in the trenches of a bizarre hybrid of industrial groove. "Telescope With a Cervix Lens" dives into the deep territory of feminism with funky horn flavorings. "Dissection In a Late Night Chair" describes love under the influence of a massive drug infusion that totally warps reality while spitting out truth. "Wednesday" is a long tale of alcohol at its worst that then hits bottom during "Mirror Lens" and further watches a friend take her life in a heroin overdose the next day ("Thursday"). "Mirror Lens" has an epic symphonic crescendo and "Thursday's" piano chords will make your eyes overflow. This album is not without humor. "Coors Spring Water" has a fun groove that hits the funny bone (complete with muted trumpet). "Depression, Deception and Loneliness" is perhaps the CD's best track... a sleazy sex story of one-night stands that will be celebrated by anyone who has played the singles bar-scene with reckless abandon. "Inhale" is a jab at cigarette addiction played to a hyped-up techno groove that melts into the whacked "Solo Fingers" and beyond into the non-stop vocal vomit of "Zit". "After the Movie" is the culmination of a great album as it's musical chords instantly induce tears... the album fades away slowly, having filled your mind with a million jagged pieces of emotion that will give you flashbacks for days, weeks, even years.

Highly recommended.

www.wordblender.com