What are songs? What is Poetry? The Reily Biography `What are songs—what is poetry—if you’re not there, even in violent despair?’ Reily’s long-play ‘Listen to the Rain’ swirls into ghostly existence with these words on its lips and is permeated by the inquiry through its fourteen gorgeously haunted tracks. The album’s mostly mid-tempo songs make art-rock and folk-pop forays into the void attempting to reconcile themselves to one truly cosmic, and overarching question. This consistency and dedication to a difficult theme is refreshing for a debut album—and is rendered even more impressive by its execution: Reily’s tunes are penned by three different songwriters in close collaboration with one another. Songsmith and guitarist Nick Bernal confesses that many of ‘Listen to the Rain’s’ songs are piecework miracles. It’s not unusual for a vocalist to be singing another member’s lyrics, to another writer’s melody, over his or her own chord progression. The surprisingly natural process is aided in part by continual access to a professional studio owned and operated by members of the band. ‘Listen to the Rain’ was entirely and independently, produced, tracked, and mixed by Reily in their own space. The result of such close collaboration is a pleasing aura of musical community. Vocalists/pianists Meg and Lisa sing in angelic, if otherworldly, harmony over a rich swelling of keyboards and guitars. Anthony James and his brother, session bassist Earl James, pulse and flow with enough rhythmic subtleties and syncopation to keep the compositions moving while still remaining true to the melodic roots of the arrangements. Lyrically, the indicator ‘we’ appears as much, if not more than ‘I’ showcasing an unusual maturity or narrative for such young songwriters. This communal approach is foundational to Reily; it affords them a united front when tackling subjects like Illness, Death, Loss, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation, and the resilience to stay in the breach, to continually ask difficult questions—to wait for the ‘big’ answers, to wait for Hope, Truth, and Love to reveal themselves. ‘Listen to the Rain’ remains nicely open ended both thematically and musically; it is an entry point into something more. ‘More’ has started to reveal itself in Reily’s live show. Reily has cultured a varied and committed community of fans, and with the permanent appointment of bassist Nathan Stretch, have committed themselves to a dynamic and emotional delivery whenever and wherever they play. With a particular penchant for improvisation, continual and quality songwriting, and an extensive backlog of music, Reily shows can, and do, rise above convention into another realm of expression: profound, immediate and urgent musical connect. Nathan Stretch Hamilton, ON Feb 2006