Houdini
Unlike most of my musical works, Houdini is largely an album of songs, and features the vocal talents of Robynne Dunn, Bek Jean Stewart and Steph Miller. I put a quote from Harry Houdini on the inside cover slip of the album: "I never have played with an audience, but always freed myself from ropes, fetters and other restraints as quickly as I possibly could."
If you know anything about Harry Houdini, you realise it must be a complete lie. Or 'a showman's lie', at least. Houdini routinely allowed his audience to think that an escape was more difficult than it really was. He could, for instance, free himself from 'police' handcuffs in mere seconds, but he was keenly aware that there is absolutely no drama at all in doing that. If his tricks didn't appear difficult, an audience would simply not be satisfied. The disguising of the truth is, in essence, the secret of all magic tricks.
Houdini examines the idea of truth and illusion in a variety of different ways, from the slippery interpretation of dreams in Opal, through the ritual mechanics of religion in Incantation to the reality behind the fairy tale of Rapunzel.
You can see a music clip that was made for the song Float from the album here.
If you know anything about Harry Houdini, you realise it must be a complete lie. Or 'a showman's lie', at least. Houdini routinely allowed his audience to think that an escape was more difficult than it really was. He could, for instance, free himself from 'police' handcuffs in mere seconds, but he was keenly aware that there is absolutely no drama at all in doing that. If his tricks didn't appear difficult, an audience would simply not be satisfied. The disguising of the truth is, in essence, the secret of all magic tricks.
Houdini examines the idea of truth and illusion in a variety of different ways, from the slippery interpretation of dreams in Opal, through the ritual mechanics of religion in Incantation to the reality behind the fairy tale of Rapunzel.
You can see a music clip that was made for the song Float from the album here.
