Date: March 18, 2007
From: Derringer's Music Club

A MYSPACE EXCLUSIVE:
The first response to Sacha Sacket's new album LOVERS & LEADERS.

Friday I received a package in the mail... inside I found slices of sunshine.... it had been prepared with love... the left hand corner of the envelope simply said Sacha with a glorious exclamation point... the middle had my name etched...bookended by stars...

surely this package was not of earth... but of the stars, the moon...some wizard from a galaxy far away... or maybe in the case of Sacha Sacket... an angel...

what a glorious moment it is for me, a mega music lover of passionate proportions, to excavate a new recording from any of my beloved favorite artists - be them established or coming up thru the ranks....

Sacha currently sits at the lower end of the indie totem pole...

Nowadays, indie labels are king... so now there becomes levels of indie... the big hitters that contain artists such as Arcade Fire, The Shins, etc...

and the lesser known indies...who are still very much in the early stages and doing much on their own... like Johnny Lloyd Rollins, Derek James, or Sacha Sacket...

Sacha still answers his own Myspace messages, still maintains alot of correspondence on his own...

but with Lovers and Leaders on the horizon... I believe his ability to balance all of that will finally have to fall on other shoulders...

for I believe that Lovers and Leaders is yet another building block in the right direction for Sacha... to gain a wider audience and more noteriety...

With any artist, you want to see a progression. A stepping stone towards a pinnacle career masterpiece. I believe that Sacha is still on his way to a pinnacle album, but this album has the upward momentum necessary to keep his rocket fueled to the next level....

So, by now you're reading and just saying, okay, but Jeremy what is this album like?

It's cohesive. It's understated. It's very lyrical at its foundation. The melodies fade in and out of the background, none too willing to step out and say "hey, I'm the Top 40 hit"... nothing like that is here.... that is not a weakness on this particular album though because the stories spun of people with struggles and conflicts here on this album are engaging and warrant repeat visits over and over and over...

the very essence of the lyrics alone are a work of art... so much so, that I fear even dissecting each with my own interpretations because they feel very coded and vague for a reason...

you can sense that Sacha is tapping into culturally relevant topics and issues (corrupt government leaders, bullying of individuals based on looks or orientation, legalistic chains locked by religion, depression/anxiety) that are at the crux of what society is passionately shouting angrily about these days... whether the shouts are for or against the issues....

but what marks the special tone to this album is the compassion and wisdom with which he sets about to hit home the issues to the hearts of anyone listening to this album...

Lovers and Leaders is a wrestling match where no champions necessarily emerge. If they do, it has to be decided by the listener and not necessarily by the pen of Sacha himself.

Musically, the album falls somewhere into a collision of Aqualung, Tori Amos, and Postal Service type atmospherics. It's mellow and calming. Theraputic. Great for a glass of wine and a good soak in the tub. Great for coffeeshops. Could even find a home on television shows or movies quite well.

Finally, Sacha's voice is as majestic as ever... his voice alone is a strength of it's own nature... unique and heavenly in its tone and delivery... there is a warmth there...even when he is rebuking something...compassion.

HAIL opens the album. It immediately drew me in and felt as if it were written specifically for me. The story of someone who thinks they know everything they need to live a life of freedom thru a relationship with "God"... only to find that the relationship was too safe and too legalistic to allow ANY freedom at all... it was when life blew hard with storms and the hail came that God's greatness and freedom can truly be found... letting go of the entanglements of the past....

the chorus gloriously declares in a paradoxical joy: "Hail, you screwed me up. Drew blood. Hail, you broke my heart. Drew love"

musically, it opens with a dark fog of strings and slowly spins into a bed of piano and guitar that match the unexpected joy found thru the Hail...

JUDY is a very musically understated song that stands more on the lyrical foundation of the story of a gal who just can't seem to break out of her habit of self doubt. The story of a soul of great potential hidden behind the curtains of life for too long. The chorus beautifully anchors this simple song in a rapturous melody that once you hear it and rehear it... is quite inspiring....it's a grower....

STAY begins in a scatter of Postal Service style electronics....and seems to paint the picture of a leader who's weakness is in his greed for wanting to risk the lives of those under his immediate command by looking elsewhere to expand his territory... yes, to me it comes across as a plea to some of our current leaders, but it never pinpoints anything specific... this is art... walk away with what you will... :) it's one of my favorite songs here...

HALO... again a strong poetic lyrical foundation... of seemingly someone questioning their potential, their ability to judge right from wrong, their ability to know what is ultimately good or bad in this life....someone trying to shine but in a struggle as they attempt to do so...

BRANDON...one of the highlights on this album....it's aggressive in it's lyrical punches stepping into the minds of school bullies and has one of the darker electronic undercurrents and is the closest thing to a rock song on this album but the rock is still pretty light overall...."We are the cool kids/we wear the cool clothes/we kick your face in/if you mess with us" and then "we are the cool kids/we don't have to try/we keep the fat chicks and the fags in line/we just say their names/and we watch them die"..... the chorus chimes in with "If you think you can hate all of us/we don't think you will stray very far/don't you know you love us more than we do?"... it's a jarring little tune that deals with the subject matter in a compassionate matter....

Next is a song I'm a sucker for... quite a little romantic tune but with a bittersweet aftertaste... even the title is pretty clever... MAYBE YOU CAN SAVE ME (FROM YOU)... a simple tune but the song had me hooked with its opening lines .... "Sometimes I lie awake/dreaming of you, forming your taste/The moonlight swears you love me/but the sunrise takes it away".... it's quite melacholy as the person seems to have strong feelings for another but none too sure if the other has the same or if the other person can be what they are imagining they want them to be in their head... I think I can relate ALL to well to the idea of this tune and have come to terms with the reality of such a situation quite beautifully...

HOW LOW? .... seems to be the story of a person trying to run away from the past but realizing that the you can never really escape the truths of yourself that will always inevitably follow you whereever you try to go...

JOVE is a beautiful story song that seems to expose the uneven nature of two lovers...one who seems to be getting lighter in life and one getting heavier and more weighed down by life as the relationship unfolds... this actually made me think of the book THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING quite alot....

WHAT YOU ARE.. a darker lyrical foundation of someone who seems to be using sex to validate themselves with a feeling of love... and how this person wants each act to become a true act of love but always ends up with a dissatisfaction because the other individual is always insensitive...but they lie to themselves and continue to give in to try and fill a void... the chorus even hints that this individual is getting paid for each act...maybe someone in porn as well... "and go do it nice and slow/you don't want to blow anything/you know we all love the show/do it like you don't feel a thing"...

Hallowed (Show Me How) - another one of my favorites... of someone who wants to be molded into a genuine individual and asking for proper guidance whether from a God above or maybe from an earthly father... again, Sacha accomplishes what he does so well in making the case for pain and suffering of life becoming the pathway to ultimate freedom and reality...his voice soars majestically on this song...

the appropriately titled album closer TIME TO GO... accomplishes a teary eyed warmth... goodbyes that will hopefully weave around to cross paths again someday with renewed strength and new lessons learned.... it is an alternately hopeful and painful embrace and wave of the hand...

This album isn't necessarily unique or cutting edge. It's a different monster than Shadowed... shadowed was dark with spikes of more melodic kick overall...

Lovers and Leaders is a whole lot more understated overall yet still comes across as a more mature effort....

What it has in tow is plenty of heart and soul....

and the man behind Lovers and Leaders is a man who knows how to weave poetic lines to great effect...

he knows how to hug and to embrace thru song.

This geniune touch impacts the album with plenty of reasons to add it to your collection.