Now here is a curious thing. A 12 track album that you can download for free? Apparently a ploy against multinational music corporations and their puppet bands, the Bastard Fairies have given away something of value. Most things that you get for free are worth nothing. That is why they are given away for free. On this occasion however, you, the listener, have struck it lucky.
This album is a strange offbeat collection of songs that echo Tom Waits and PJ Harvey. "Habitual Inmate" and "The Boy Next Door" takes us into the dark places that hide behind the streets of normality. "Ode to the Prostitute" provides us with a critical allegory to morality. "We're all going to Hell" covers the same territory adding in a healthy dash of black humour. "Moribund" is (almost) a radio friendly song. The jury is out on whether these songs come from a dark place or are designed to take us into the aforementioned dark place.
Compelling and yet disturbing, this is a curious meeting between poetry and performance art. Musically, this is a hard one to categorise. It is not an uncommercial offering but it will take a couple of plays to appreciate it. The album is certainly very listenable though. You can even hum the tunes. Perhaps we have stumbled on another true original. In days gone by, cabaret and political commentary went together. It looks like those days have returned. The album can be downloaded from their website.