The Circle of Light

Information from www.wendyrule.com, used with permission.

For the past five years, the enticing, atmospheric and richly emotive songs of Wendy Rule have entranced and excited an ever-growing audience, both on disc and in live performance. One of Australia's most consistent and innovative artists, Wendy’s songs combine irresistible melodies with rich aural textures and a rare personal honesty, her remarkable voice traversing emotions and octaves with effortless grace.

Wendy began writing songs while singing with jazz and rock bands in the early '90s, but it quickly became apparent that they would require a broader canvas to be properly realised on stage and on disc. Entering the studio in early 1995 with keyboardist Craig Patterson and cellist Rachel Samuel, she spent nine months recording and refining her debut album Zero, which was released the following year to critical acclaim and strong sales. To date the album has sold over 5,000 copies, a remarkable feat for a purely independent release. The album's opening track, Continental Isolation, was released as a single later that year, including two freshly-recorded songs.

1997 saw the release of another single - new song Artemis paired with Wendy's unique take on Echo And The Bunnymen’s The Killing Moon - and a live album recorded at The Continental in Melbourne. At the same time, Wendy spent two intense weeks recording her second studio album, Deity, with producer Simon Polinski. That album was released the following year, Rolling Stone magazine describing it as "Dark, sensual sonic theatre in the vein of Kurt Weill... compelling stuff." By this stage, Wendy had attracted the attention of many of Melbourne's most influential artists, playing live with the likes of Stephen Cummings, Monique Brumby, Kerri Simpson, Max Sharam, Shane O'Mara, Rebecca Barnard and Bill McDonald, as well as support slots on two national tours by legendary folk singer-songwriter Donovan.

After months spent playing live to support the release of Deity - shows where an increasing number of new songs were introduced to the world - Wendy started work on her third studio album, co-producing with engineer Siiri Metsar at Melbourne's Fortissimo Studios. As with Zero, the recording sessions were spread over a long period of time, the final mixes for the album completed in June 2000. During this time, Wendy toured extensively, playing in Sydney, Adelaide and, for the first time, in New Zealand. She also conceived, produced and performed in the theatrical production An Underworld Journey, which featured several new songs that have now been captured on the new album.

A unique, rewarding record, World Between Worlds is a remarkable achievement. Even more adventurous than the preceding albums, it places Wendy's songs in a warm, evocative sound-world, the lush keyboards of previous records replaced by the acoustic beauty of guitars, strings and percussion. The album's unique sound - achieved with a combination of vintage microphones and tape machines and modern digital equipment - places the focus on the songs themselves, from the lush textures and insistent rhythms of Dissolve and Entropy to the delicate, entrancing beauty of Slow Down and the title track. It's a remarkably mature album - but then, it’s informed by all that's come before it.

"All of my records have reflected exactly where I'm at in my life," explains Wendy. "With Zero there was a naïve sense of exuberance coupled with an incredible darkness that I was going through. Deity, I think, is a lot shinier - I’d dealt with the shadow side of myself, and was embracing the music industry, the whole bit - and feeling quite at peace, quite uplifted. And then there’s World Between Worlds. This last year, the process of recording this album has been so changeful for me - a period where everything that I think of as solid has had doubt placed upon it, in terms of relationship, spirituality, everything. It’s the most honest album that I’ve made, and the most true. It’s not trying to be anything other than the truth of the journey I’ve been on. And of course, I’m trying to do that as beautifully as I can. It’s far more gentle… and it’s quite sad, I think."

On World Between Worlds, almost all the instruments were played by Wendy's live band The Parallel Dream, long-time collaborators Craig Patterson and Rachel Samuel joined by percussionist Simon Dickson. No surprise, then, that it's Wendy's most musically focussed album to date.

"Craig and I had, for a long time, talked about how this album was going to sound," Wendy recalls. "And we knew exactly what that was - we were inspired by the same records. There was a much more collaborative sense with this album, and I think it's fitting that it's the first one that will be released with the band name instead of just my own name. I chose the name The Parallel Dream for the band because we're all sharing the one vision - just taking our own separate paths within that vision. We're just working so well together, and we're excited by the same things. We're giving ourselves the freedom to improvise on stage. A year of intense gigging has really paid off in the studio, I think. And certainly with this album I knew exactly what I wanted it to sound like. There was a real sense of going in and unravelling it, just letting it pour out gently onto tape."

The third chapter in a remarkable journey, World Between Worlds is an album like no other, one which takes Wendy and her songs to another level. Opulent and ambitious, it's also her most personal and intimate album to date, a key chapter in a career that's never been less than fascinating.

"I hope that people let themselves go with this album," Wendy says. "That they let themselves be taken by it. It’s very much an album to journey with.

All info from www.wendyrule.com