The Last Domino
When Elephants In The Room Dance With Skeletons In The Closet
Self-Released
Link: http://www.thelastdomino.com/

[Photo of John Orr by Rachel Rubenstein at the 2010 Broad Ripple Music Fest]

The first thing you will recognize on John Orr’s latest creation is that there are a lot of songs contained, masquerading as if it were a double album. The thing is that this album is shorter than the previous “double album” Diamond Days & Firenights. 14 songs total, When Elephants In The Room Dance With Skeletons In The Closet is not a bunch of filler, each song takes equal precedence, and I have to agree with Orr himself — he considers his work on this album his most accomplished — this is by far his most accomplished work to date.

You feel a distinct growth since Diamond Days & Firenights. The barrier is gone; Orr is no longer hiding under fictional pretenses. This is him, simple and pure. And with that it puts richer meaning into a song like “Self-Destruct Mode,” a great ‘90s-style alternative rock glaze that builds on intensity. It trails the river bottom blues of “Clonazepam Blues.” Never have I heard Orr rock so hard nor be as angry. My reaction based on the immediacy of the song: “Holy shit, John!” The man has fire in his eyes and rage in his balls by the time he’s finished with the fury.

Orr tells us how he really feels about New York in “(What’s So Fucking Great About) New York(?), throwing in a subtle nod to Roxy Music with the sax solo at the end.

Even when he is whipping out his best Home Free-era Dan Folgelberg on the finale “Alexandra, Annamarie, And Everything I Ever Wanted To Be” amongst a smattering of electronic sampling, his acoustic dappling never sounded more fresh. By the time the bass guitar comes into play, you are knee deep into something marvelous. You only hate the fact that the album is ending.

John Orr talks to ZapTown about the album and the future.

What made you want to record this album?

I originally wanted to record a loud, dancey, full-band rock album before returning to the solo acoustic stuff. However, certain wrenches (money, time, sanity) got thrown in the gears and I decided it was best to do a solo album to have something new out there, but still have a couple of full-band numbers on it that I could play whenever I got all the dudes together for shows.

The music this time around feels like a bolder approach than in the past. Is that the case for you? What are your feelings about the results?

The album is indeed a very bold step for me in terms of both music and lyrics. I’ve been really interested to hear people’s reactions since it’s such a departure stylistically from previous material (and from a lot of music that’s out there in general). I toyed around with electronic arrangements and even pushed some songs toward more orchestral territories. Lyrics-wise, Elephants contains no fictional characters, which is entirely new for me having been a short fiction writer and transposing that into my songwriting for years. Sure, there were plenty of true-to-life songs in the past, but I generally like to keep my own hang-ups minimal. I’m very proud of the results, though, and am glad to have purged all the demons. It sounds a bit cliche, but I needed to get certain things off of my chest and once I did, I felt completely rejuvenated. I did still get my usual postpartum what-do-I-do-next pangs, though.

Like with the previous releases, much of the music was written and recorded by you at what seemed like a fairly quick pace. What do you feel like you have learned this time around? Was it easier? Difficult? Any challenges you faced?

I learned that I should actually invest in things like pop-screens for vocals rather than ghetto-rigging a clothes hanger and a pair of pantyhose to my mic stand. Other than my ancient recording “equipment”, I sort of overreached on this album musically, trying my hand at both piano and cello for the first time (the latter being much harder given the fact I didn’t know what rosin was at the time, nor that I had to use it in order to make a cello sound good). In that respect, the album may not seem very cohesive at parts (a bear I’ve wrestled with in the past), but the way I see it, why record the same song over and over? Keep shit fresh like the prince of Bel-Air, I always say.

On the bright side, having recorded most of my own albums, I didn’t have to do too many takes this time around. I was also much more relaxed (which is ironic given the quickly-approaching deadline I set for myself) and wasn’t so obsessed with absolute perfection. Sometimes mistakes are what give songs their character…just ask anyone who catches me messing up onstage and calling overly unnecessary attention to it!

What are your favorite aspects on the album? What do you plan to take with you as a result of creating these songs?

I like the fact that almost any of the songs could work well on their own without any accompaniment, but they have completely different personalities because of that slight electronic presence. “Afterglow” was the first song I finished. I don’t even listen to my own music that much, but I had that song on repeat for days. All the breakdowns and buildups and noises and effects really gel and make for a pretty, fun, DANCY track. Because of “Afterglow” I really want to make a trance/trip hop album. And while I’m stroking my ego here, I think I really stepped my game up lyrically as far as imagery, metaphor, rhyme scheme, allusion, yadda yadda…I’m an English nerd at heart and REALLY wish more people in the mainstream appreciated literary devices in songs.

With an upcoming move from Indianapolis to Austin, what will be of The Last Domino? Do you plan to continue the musical project? What are your plans and goals once settling in to the Texas landscape?

My upcoming move was the main catalyst in releasing Elephants. I’m relocating for the sole purpose of continuing my creative endeavors, but in more advantageous surroundings. And I’m by no means knocking Indy here. I owe everything I am to this city. There are people here who are (probably literally) breaking their backs in order to make Indy a burgeoning arts scene, and I raise eighty-seven glasses to them. In the meantime, though, I feel like I’ve hit a ceiling and need to take that next step. I’m going to start out doing the one-man-band thing in Austin, then put a band back together for that next album I was talking about.