Peter Elkas Party Of One. Release Date : September 14, 2004. Label: Maple Music. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. This is bedroom music. Pete Elkas has managed to create this saucy sexy R+B based collection of tunes. So saucy in fact, that I got tangled up in and distracted by the mess of rapture that I accidentally closed this document without saving it the first time around... Welcome to a salvaged CD review based on my shaky memory. Let's start over... This is bedroom music. Pete Elkas has managed to create this saucy sexy R+B based collection of tunes. That's what he'd have us think anyhow. But listening through the music, the songs are about loneliness, arguments, work, reality shows, doom... not really the happiest stuff. So by all means, toss this disc into the stereo to get it on to, but make sure the person you're trying to sack isn't listening too closely to what Elkas has to say, or you might end up with a distant lover and a ruined mood. Elkas begins seductively, with liquid R+B guitars and a voice with a soft quality, a drifting drawl, a gentle warble, and a slight rasp that makes it sound like he was in the whiskey before he began singing. But he gets peppier immediately for "In My Den"... and here he's indeed inviting us in (In my den you're welcome every day). The pace of most of the songs is pretty slow, syrupy, delicious, songs to strip to and swivel your hips, but because of this pace, things like guitar solos get slowed riiiiight doooooown. Which is kind of neat. We're so used to hearing solos that run all the notes together so fast, we can barely tell them apart, in the interest of the guitarist showing off how damn fast he can move his hands around his instrument. Here, however, we get a chance to process each note separately. Interesting. It makes for slinky, smell-the-roses guitar parts that can also serve to totally undress you with its... eyes. He talks about work. Work! Offices and 9-5's! Through the smoky guitars, the dripping sexuality, the dimly-lit carnal aura this thing projects, Elkas talks about the most basic, normal life issues. It's really weird, and a bit confusing. Why is he doing this? Why am I compelled to wiggle my hips suggestively and make eyes at that cute fella across the room, instead of brooding in a corner and sulking? The music takes more power than the words, I suppose because the voice is so fluid, it's a bit challenging to pull words out. So it's almost irrelevant that he's talking about work, because unless you're really paying attention, it's not going to make a difference what he's saying. As long as it retains the sultry overtone. Anyhow, Elkas seems like a pretty easygoing guy - maybe by throwing such average life problems and thoughts into a mix of songs with this vibe, he's trying to make light of his situations, to make himself feel better, or to avoid looking like some pesky angst-ridden musician-type. Jeez and now he throws saxophones into the mix to make it all just that much sexier. Turning out lights, being wet from the shower... but he's talking about post-argument tension! What's going on here? Maybe his intention is in the vein of make-up songs. If he'd come to me after an argument and sing me a song like this, I'd be inclined to... well, let's keep this clean for the kiddies. Anyways... "Skipping Stone" is a bit happier sounding - like through all of the above-mentioned weirdness, he still can't believe he has this woman. It's beach music kind of. Like lounging seaside with his lover, who he can still see the vague disappearing form of on the horizon walking away fuming... but heck it's such a nice day. Why not sit back and enjoy it? Besides, there's a pretty little thing just over there who's awful nice to look at, and she seems to be heading this way... I doubt any of the above scenario entered into Elkas' mind when he was writing this album, but it'd be a great soundtrack for such a scene. Interjected later are R+B background vocals, like a doo-wop group from the 50's. "Build A Harmony" is the party song for sure. Is that a kazoo I hear? Well now he's back to talking about work. I just don't get it. A dark and dangerous country sound comes in on "Only You" with growling guitars, harmonicas, and a quicker pace, but still those rolling and husky R+B-based vocals. And it includes a mild jab at groupies. Ooh nice simile. Ooh. There's even a touch of that loungey, raspy, super-cool Rufus Wainwright sound on "Still A Flame." It's amazing how people can blend their influences together into something like this, but I just can't grasp the weird non-parellel between the lyrics and the vibe of the record. Completely twisted! Elkas has managed to seduce us completely into his little world, where we think we'll be festooned with red wine and truffles, fireplaces and bearskin rugs, only to find out all along he was talking about how much he hates cubicles. Write what you know, write what you know. Well it's settled, Elkas is a real, normal human being. He's not a Barry White-esque love machine, he's not a rich and famous rock star, he doesn't have an endless stream of models clinging to him and people following his every move. He's like you and I... with a job that's a struggle, a relationship that's a struggle, and aspirations that are a struggle. So what do we do when all this gets to us? We catapult ourselves into a fancy dream world... and it seems that this sort of escapism is what's going on here. He's still talking about all the normal life issues, but he's dressing them up in the sounds of candleight and fluid and hazy guitars and relaxation and seduction. Amazing. Song of choice : "Skipping Stone" is my favourite... It's a cool story about ... well how can I interpret this? He wanted chicks, chicks to throw away. Short-term girlfriends? One-night stands? Who knows. Then he found a girl he couldn't bring himself to let go of... and whoda think that I've still got her? -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Peter Elkas website Published : February, 2005.