RuthyAnn Mandell - “Never Be Far”

Song Review by KIAC's The A&R Guy

I remember being alone in a new (for me) old city on business and going to my first disco nightclub. The year was 1979. The place was “Old” Quebec City. The nightclub was called “Vendredi 13”. The feeling was electric, sensual and beautifully forbidden – a perfect mix at the time … and for time eternal for that matter. And although it was from a much earlier time and medium, the night reminded me of when I was in university in the early 1960’s and having that same feeling as I sat in a movie theatre watching Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini’s tantalizing and sensually decadent 1960 film “La Dolce Vita”. I get that same feeling every time I hear the Bee Gees “Saturday Night Fever” or “Stayin’ Alive”, or Yvonne Elleman singing her disco hit “If I Can’t Have You”.

So what pray tell has all that to do with RuthyAnn Mandell? Well, how about just about ‘everything’ for starters. A quick read of RuthyAnn’s distinguished background and more than one long listen to “Never Be Far” brings my aforementioned time-capsule comments and feeling(s) full circle, at least for me – electric, sensual and beautifully forbidden.

I find myself pulled to the vivid description on RuthyAnn’s song page of the sky “exploding in rainbow colored fireworks …”, grasping onto those words as perhaps being the inspiration for this intense and splendid song. In any event, the lyrics, the inspiration and the picture are all captured in this energetic ‘take no prisoners’ high caliber synthesized production and brilliantly conceived three-part vocal performance comprised of the noted “extraordinary voice” of songstress Dominique Vouk, RuthyAnn’s beautiful and profound dream-like recitation of her poetry written in homage to a departed love, and, her cousin Mark Solomon repeating the haunting opiate hook “never be far from me”. One click on the song button and the door to RuthyAnn’s disco induced dream-world swings wide open sweeping the listener away in a potpourri tsunami of pulsating music spinning unrequited love, sensual excitement, fantasy and spirituality swirling around and around in a tightly woven disco groove.

The producer’s musical instinct and inspiration to choose the inimitable Dominique Vouk to sing RuthyAnn’s lyrics is a stroke of genius taking nothing away from the songwriter and works heavily in her favor and to her advantage here. The addition of Marc’s sitar is a mellow counterpoint weaving harmonic contrast and texture through the composition.

The jewel though in “Never Be Far” is RuthyAnn’s dream-like poetry recitation – a cascading sky-high transcendental journey into the ethereal dimension of a departed lover, clearly the essence and beauty of the song … the picture painted so vividly by RuthyAnn.

Profound lyrics and poetry, beautiful and inspirational vocals, spellbinding story and consummate production and arrangement – a brilliant and exceptional performance.