Beyond From Within works as an excellent example of imagery at work with the surreal, spacey music fitting neatly into the idea of the band's name. The self-titled full-length opens with the meandering line, “I feel like a dream on a quest,” and continues on in a style pertaining to pondering.
Steve Andrews is the singular man behind the lyrics and music. His innovative combination of recorded guitars, keyboard, and drums shows him to be as diverse as he is inspired.
Thematic elements of wandering, searching, and even, at times, supplicating, show Beyond From Within to audiences as a journey. Catchy titles like “Eyewitness the Eyes of Love” could convey a silly notion, but the humor carries through to the deeper sense of awakening which permeates throughout the album.
“Seven Strangers” recalls the Cure as a possible influence. The psychedelia in the line, “colors hypnotize your mind” in the song “Picture” react against the straight-ahead drumming which backs the airy feeling in the recording.
The strummed beginning to “Between the Rain” muddles up the power of the lyrics and the inherent sadness in lines speaking to the elements between the rain. Admittedly, the lyrics would be a bit stronger if it was expanded to describe between rain drops or between the rains, but the great quality of music open to interpretation means it stays accessible to more people.
Anyone near the Pennsylvania area should look out for a possible future tour and those online can easily catch a trail from tracks on the homepage http://www.beyondfromwithin.com
Review by Ellen Eldridge
