photo: Stacy Fortson
There are albums that lend themselves to cinematic interpretations, and this four-track EP could be beautifully rendered. The first song, The Lie, opens with the sexy starts and stops of a tango-esque beat via guitar, tambourine and Jack Acosta’s vocals. The lyrics set the stage for a great opening scene: “The curtain will arise, the players take a spot, we’ll stage this evil plot - but I warn you now, you may not want to hear.”
One does want to hear this film noir tune continued, a tumultuously fervent tale colored black and white, grey and red. Acosta’s singing sets the landscape, punctuated by Kevin Frederick’s violin and Andre Gressieux’s percussion, for a Raymond Chandler murder mystery. The singing is calm at first, almost matter of fact, but Acosta aptly punches up the more intense lyrics with powerful vox throughout the album.
The next two songs, Little Dark Secrets and Til’ Death continue the film noir vibe; the songs blend seamlessly together with their dark themes played out in minor chords. The murderous male protagonists are jilted by love and blind with obsession and passion-driven rage. You don’t want to be the cheating female in these stories.
Track four is a cover of Foo Fighter’s The Pretender, a completely different take from the original’s high energy, propulsive guitars and drums. It’s slowed down to match the other three songs, but is still sung with intensity
and sounds cool stripped down and with the addition of the violin.
This month, Roll Acosta hits the road for a six-city regional tour promoting both last year’s release, The Dawn, along with this year’s The Dark. The local show is June 11 at 2nd Saturdays Downtown Scott Stage, 9:15pm. Find them online at RollAcosta.com.
