Short Reviews [Trk Project - 2022 - "Books That End In Tears (Duets Version)"]

In 2021 TRK Project released their fourth album, a double CD featuring songs inspired by four classic pieces of literature, namely "Lord Of The Flies" (William Golding), "The Trial" (Franz Kafka) and two by George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Animal Farm". The first CD had vocals by Karolina Leszko and the second by David Lewandowski, with the same four songs on each, played by Marcin Kruczek (guitar), Krzysztof Wyrwa (bass), Grzegorz Fieber (drums) and Ryszard Kramarski (keyboards, acoustic guitar). The following year they returned with this special edition which features both singers performing as duets along with an additional track, "The Little Match Girl" (Hans Christian Anderson). Unfortunately, I have not heard the 2021 album so it is not possible to compare the two. This means I do not know if anything has been re-recorded, and it is quite possible the vocals have just been lifted and edited from the previous release to make it seem as if the two singers are working together when in reality that is not the case. Given they previously both sang the songs in the same key it is quite possible this has been put together by Ryszard as opposed to any new recordings, but no matter how it came about I know this is something I enjoyed immensely. I have followed his music for more than 20 years, and since the debut TRK Project album in 2017 the line-up has been incredibly consistent with only Krzysztof Wyrwa and David Lewandowski not there at the beginning, and everyone was there for 2020's "Kay & Gerda" where Karolina and David again sang vocals over the same songs, one CD each. The four main songs are all about 12 minutes in length, the bonus slightly over seven, so it is not possible to include the full stories as there is just not enough time, but lyrically they provide a flavour. I must confess to having never read ‘The Trial', although I have heard of it, but I studied "Lord of the Flies" at school and have long been a fan of Orwell with a complete set of his works, and they have done well in bringing together five stories about totalitarianism and still making them enjoyable with highly polished and enjoyable arrangements. I remember asking Tracy Hitchings years ago what it was like working with Alan Reed in Strangers on a Train, but she told me they were never in the studio at the same time, but they combined for a great release in "The Key, Part II – The Labyrinth" (note, this was supposed to be a trilogy Clive, where is the last one?). The same may well be true for Karolina and David, but does it matter? This is a bright and enjoyable release, even if the subject matter is dark, and thoroughly enjoyable throughout and surely that is all that matters.