Stories From The Borderline is the latest solo album from Song writer/producer Charlie Nieland who is now based in New Jersey, rather than Bushwick. Charlie sings and plays lots of instruments alongside Billy Loose, Dan McAssey, Spiritchild and Joe McGinty. It was recorded at home and at Saturation Point Studios in Brooklyn, NY, Produced, recorded, mixed & mastered by Charlie Nieland.
The album opens with gun reports and jangling bells intro to Cease To Turn an elegiac song of death and despair in troubling times. Brutalist Monuments has a deeply 80's funk bassline, stripped to the bone, for survival in brutalist times, band comes in and out allowing the bass to keep us anchored down, fighting all the modern demons, trying to extinguish the freedoms our ancestors fought so hard for. Will we end up in rooms with severed monkey heads lining the walls, making clear the anti-vivisection stance in days when allies have become enemies.
Win (Featuring Spiritchild) wants to know why you resist, can we still sing songs of celebration, or are battle cries all we have left, he still want to love the alien, creating new connections in this distorted world. Are you still prepared to look at his face, or are you too ashamed of what's gone on. Then Spiritchild comes in rapping about what's the emergency, exploring what you know and claiming all he wants is for you to Win in far less soulful ways than Bowie did.
Drown in the guitars creating a wall of sound, can you keep your head above water in turbulent times, this surges over and over again, another storm hitting the shore. Hypnotized is the tale of a fire in an Amusement Park with glimpses of the sadness and horror it creates, looking for a saviour for when the curtain finally falls and it all comes crashing down.
Back To Life slowly finding a way to find yourself after it all ended, back to what now counts for reality, saying prayers hoping a better day might still be possible, while mourning your loss. Mournful guitar, slow sepulchral drums peek through the fog, candles light the way, empathy compassion sought to light the way back to Life.
Redshift change things, make life enjoyable once again, in bleak reality, finding truth when truth has been abolished, only insularity, your own deep connection will save you from despairing downbeat guitars and strings trying to convince you, this is really how it now is, with the family you've chosen and the family the country chose instead.
Sentinel is for the guardian of his local park, someone who spends his days noticing everything that happens in the Park, the pain and sorrow dig deep in his bones allowed to be explored while he stares at the trees and shoreline, funeral beats collecting donations for the Ferryman's welfare society, shooting stars appear after dark, can you steer out of the park or not.
Shame an anthem for the dread of our times, shame your made to feel for being who you are, but catastrophe is teetering on edges, hatred and bile replacing love and peace, we need to be able to love whoever you want, whenever you want, Blame culture driving us all to agonizing pain and shame. Time go get all glammed up, sparkling everywhere and celebrate, find a way to change the haters into lovers.
Today a slow string laden lullaby for the one you want to wakeup next to always, sadly you've gone, bereft whispering your last verses of love and tenderness, even though your no more here on earth, you are in his heart forever.
The album closes with We Fell Down no one saw it happening like this, drowning off rhythm guitars, searching in the margins for signs for how to claim victory, in an alien nation, no safety net When You Fell Down, never hearting the message that might have saved you.
Find out more at https://charlienieland.bandcamp.com/album/stories-from-the-borderlines https://www.charlienieland.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CharlieNieland
