1. Ordinary World
(Iliona Raidne)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Jason Iolcus
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
I wrote “Ordinary World” a few months before my big break in the business, and now it seems prescient: as if I knew what was coming and wanted to capture the now I had.
2. Hypnotism
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Jason Iolcus
Recorded at Thalia Hall
“Hypnotism” was my first collaboration with Peter. He really understands where I’m coming from, like he can read the pages of my personal mythology. Peter, wherever you are now – I love you, but the snakeskin boots were just not your style.
3. Call of the Sea
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Jason Iolcus
Recorded at Thalia Hall
I was never much of a singer until my parents and I took a cruise in the Mediterranean. Something about the sea air and the feel of the wind in my hair touched powers within me I had never realized were there. It was on that trip my parents introduced me to Greek myths, and the winged women who lured sailors to their deaths. Can song have such allure?
4. Odyssey
(Iliona Raidne / Penelope Ithaca / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Jason Iolcus
Recorded at Thalia Hall
Working with “patient Penny,” as they call her in the business, was a blast. We each wanted to talk about our personal pitfalls on the journey. I’ll leave it to the imagination whether the lovers in this song who drowned from too much affection were hers or mine – or neither.
5. Eulogy
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Martin Athens
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
We lost Jason shortly into the recording of this record to an accident: drowned in the lake behind his house. This song is in his honor. Athens might have succeeded him as producer, but no one can replace him. I wish my voice had the power to sing him back to life.
6. White Foam Horses
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Martin Athens
Recorded at The Argo Retreat
When I dream, I dream that my wings carry me across a thousand oceans. I stand on the rocks with waves white as bone crashing against the stone, and I sing – music that brings travelers to the shore. Somehow, I always wake up before they land …
7. Lullaby
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Martin Athens
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
This track wasn’t intended to be a capella. The guitarist broke his arm diving into a swimming pool and the fluteplayer locked herself in her room with a bout of hydrophobia. Their replacements listened to the song, glazed over, and seemed excited, but called in sick the next morning.
8. The Spotlight
(Iliona Raidne / Peter Orpheus)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Martin Athens
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
There are times I think singing to a packed house with every eye on me is better than food and drink – is my food and drink, more precious than air. I used to say that I needed nothing more than that and Peter. Being left with half of what you want is a bad bargain.
9. End of the Conversation
(Iliona Raidne / Clio Tepper)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Martin Athens
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
My first song without Peter – warm and rich and desperate. Clio was wonderful; I can’t fault her for the aches and pains. We seemed to lose ourselves in the music, the band and I, with the roaring determination of a coming storm. Melpomene was down to half-strength, technicians disappeared to who knew where, so we manned the microphones and equipment ourselves. Martin had a heart attack. Literally: Martin had a heart attack …
10. Bright Hunger
(Iliona Raidne)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Adam Sisyphus
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
While working on this song, I discovered how much Peter masked for me: his music blended with mine, complemented it, took the salt-sea sting out of my words. So many people faded away from this project, and I wondered if those who stayed admired me or feared me. We’re all hungry for something – the only difference is whether it’s something we can admit to the world. Or to ourselves …
11. Siren
(Iliona Raidne)
Rock Sentinel Productions
Produced by Kristin Alcestis
Recorded at The Melpomene Center For The Arts
This song may be the last song. I couldn’t keep personnel, the police started to ask questions, and Kristin was the only person willing to produce. She acted as if it was a sacrifice. I can’t control it, this drowning, howling emptiness inside of me … this disc can’t go to press. I can’t spread this power amongst who knows how many people, luring them to disaster, unmaking them … I’ll let the sea take me. The music will die with me. No one will ever hear my cursed voice – and I hope if anyone reads these notes, they will understand what to do.
“The Promise of Song” is dedicated to the memory of Iliona Raidne after her tragic suicide on October 11, 2009. These liner notes, begun on October 7 and last saved the night before her death, have been included unchanged. Fifty percent of all proceeds from sales of this CD will be donated to the United States Coast Guard for the improvement of search and rescue services.
© Copyright 2016 Lindsey Duncan
Lindsey Duncan is a chef / pastry chef, professional Celtic harp performer and life-long writer, with short fiction and poetry in numerous speculative fiction publications. Her contemporary fantasy novel, Flow, is available from Double Dragon Publishing. She feels that music and language are inextricably linked. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and can be found on the web at http://www.LindseyDuncan.com.
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Read our author interview with Lindsey Duncan here.