Customer Reviews

Helleborine

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Shelleyan Orphan are one of those peculiar little groups that show up once in a while, make some stunning music, and then disappear. They have no peers, so trying to describe who they sound like is impossible. They are etherial, and never more so than on their first album "Helleborine," a stunning mix of orchestral sweetness and lyrical mastery. Long before their demise into songs with titles like "Dead Cat," the Orphans were writing songs like "Epitaph Ivy and Woe," juxtaposing the generally sweet and upbeat timbre of the music with the often graphic lyrics describing a cemetery and a charnel house. On "Anatomy of Love," vocalist Caroline Crawley asks the same questions that anyone that is in love asks: "Does it still move you? Does it still make you feel that?" "Cavalry of Cloud," with it's gorgeous introduction, will give you chills. "Helleborine," the album's only instrumental track, is another example of the artistic beauty the Orphans had a complete mastery of. This was their supreme moment, and when they began their fall, they would fall far.

While subsequent releases by Shelleyan Orphan have their remarkable charms, this first one exists in a sublime world of its own. The English Romantics surely would have recognized kindred spirits in this music! It's not merely ethereal & lovely, but emotionally intense as well, with the strings & woodwinds contributing a real richness & depth rather than mere surface prettiness. Add to that the voice of Caroline Crawley, sounding like some Siren calling through ocean mist & moonlight, and you have a quietly stunning album. Precious? Pretentious? Well, if so, then in the best possible way! It's like some luscious, exotic dessert -- not for everyday consumption, and certainly not for everyone -- but once tasted, never forgotten. Highly recommended!

In their debut album Shelleyan Orphan showed everyone what they could have been...but then weren't. Listen and cherish this album, because Century Flower has only an echo of it, and Humroot lost it altogether. The tremendous purity and richness of Helleborine will probably never be surpassed, since all bands like them have passed away.

This is one of my dollar bin finds and what a find. Shelleyian Orphan make a kind of song oriented, rustic folk.

This reminds me a small amount of Fairport Convention, but Orphan is a modern band with shiny digital production. Still, the soft singing is extremely melodic, and the subtle strings and reads have complex arrangements that add a genuine baroque quality to this album. The group seems to emerge from the A&M Phil Ochs, Fairport and Nick Drake school of 1960s orchestral folk.

Nothing on Helleborine will make you draw a direct line to any of this music, but the impulses are firmly there, and Shelleyan Orphan use these underpinnings to make their music work

I was in a Bible-based thrift store, scrounging around cardboard boxes, half filled with the usual tattered edged, tossed out trashed LPs, and came across this wonderous gem. I liked the look, I liked the price at 50 cents. I took it home like a grinning first date.
And OH! how exciting it was! The breathlessness precious understated gasp of "Anatomy of Love" and the sweet sanctuary of harmony!
Later, I searched for any info on Shellyan Orphan...know now better
but..
the sweetest kiss was the eyes closed wondering...

This is for music fans who have the other SO discs and must complete their collection. Otherwise, it's easily forgettable -- with only a few tracks which showcase the range and depth that ultimately make SO so wonderful on their later efforts. (Trivia: Last track contains reference to Shelley.)