Caught in the Carousel

Brooke Fraser

By Alex Green

Brooke Fraser

"It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not."
—Moliére

"The whole world failed Rwanda…"
—Words credited to U.N. staff members under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, reported by Philip Gourevitch in "Annals of Diplomacy: The Genocide Fax," New Yorker, 11 May 1998.

Named after a Rwandan schoolgirl from the Kabuga district, Brooke Fraser's Albertine is a moving account of the New Zealand-born singer/songwriter's trip to the Central-East African nation. But Albertine isn't simply a travelogue—it's a twelve-track song cycle about witnessing horror and hope firsthand. That being said, Albertine presents an interesting question and that is, what is one person supposed to do when they come face to face with genocide?

The answer to that is simply, something.

For a musician, that something is to write a song. From the bard Demodocus' songs of the Trojan War to Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" music has been used as a medium to tell stories, report atrocities, and sing back to the world what's been witnessed. "Throughout my trip," Fraser writes in her liner notes "(my guide) Joel Nsengiyumva had introduced me to people as a musician from the other side of the world, who was going to go back to my people, tell them about the people of Rwanda and help. No pressure." If Fraser really felt any pressure, it's not apparent on Albertine. The album is a rousing call to arms, a stirring string of numbers that makes references to C.S Lewis, biblical characters and the iconography of the natural world to illustrate the tragedy of the ethnic massacres in Rwanda and the urgent need for something to be done to stop it.

The follow-up to Fraser's stunning multi-platinum selling debut What To Do With Daylight, Albertine is an album that explores the themes of morality, faith and the importance of love, all with a deft and graceful clarity. "Now that I have seen/I am responsible," Fraser sings on the album's moving title track, a riveting number about the horrors she's seen in Africa. If "Albertine" is about the singer keeping her promise to the girl the song is named for, the rest of the album is about the range of responsibility we have as human beings to each other.

Brooke Fraser

The swaying beauty of "Shadowfeet" finds Fraser acknowledging the transformation she's undergone ("Made of different stuff than when I began"); the soaring "Deciphering Me" stresses, "It's love that holds us" and "C.S. Lewis Song" is a reminder that "Our time is but a breath/So we better breathe it."

This is not to say, however, that Albertine is officious or preachy, because it's not. Although the subject matter is of grave importance, Fraser's voice, a honeyed confluence of Sarah MacLaughlin and Dido steers the material away from saccharine evangelization and safely into a kind of natural but urging inner monologue that creeps into one's conscience. "Seeds" is a gentle, percussive offering; the acoustic "The Thief" is quietly gripping and "Hymn" is a riveting piano ballad.

Already certified five-times platinum in her native New Zealand, Albertine has recently won two New Zealand music awards and the APRA Silver Scroll Songwriting Prize. Not only that, but the album has spawned several hit singles ("Shadowfeet" and "Deciphering Me" both reached number one) and Fraser has just wrapped up a sold-out tour of both Australia and New Zealand.

Caught In The Carousel thinks it's about time you met the Wonder From Wellington.

Brooke Fraser

FULL NAME: Brooke Fraser, or in predictive text messaging "Arnold Drapes."

NICKNAME: Frase, Brooklyn, Claire (only when in NZ and only by Jad). My manager calls me "Spina Bifida knees."

BAND MEMBERS: My constant road companions are The Amazing Ben West (drums/keys/glockenspiel) and Beth Balmer (keys, viola, vocals, Guinness drinking, potato eating).

Other than that, it depends on the geography…In Australasia we add Hikanui on bass, Nigel Hendroff on geetars… in North America we rope in Kris Pooley (keys), Aaron Sterling (drums) and Michael Chaves (guitars) when we can. I'm sure this was a more complicated answer than you anticipated, so feel free to abridge with relish.

HOMETOWN: Wellington, New Zealand (but have lived in Sydney for forever now)

WEBSITE: www.brookefraser.com

RECORD LABEL: Wood & Bone (U.S.), Columbia (Australia/NewZealand)

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE: I hope it is the sound of the feeling of arriving home.

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: David Bowie giving a nod to my writing.

STRANGEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: David Bowie giving a nod to my writing (my first album was a bit crap).

THE SONG YOU WISH THAT YOU'D WRITTEN: Anything off Joni's Ladies of the Canyon, or "Business Time" by Flight of the Conchords.

THE SONG YOU'RE PROUD AS HELL THAT YOU DID WRITE: "Albertine"

FIVE BEST BANDS TO EVER ROAM THE EARTH: Does Jem & the Holograms count?

BEST NEW ZEALAND BAND OF ALL TIME: Crowded House

BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION AMERICANS HAVE ABOUT NEW ZEALANDERS: That we're Australians.

WHAT WERE YOU LIKE AS A KID?: Oddly administrative.

LIFE CHANGING MOMENT: I was six-years-old and was convinced that I could fly but simply chose not to use my powers. One day I decided I felt like having a bit of a fly, so I got in position: I lay flat on the floor on my stomach, splayed out my limbs and began rotating them like propellers. The moment of lift-off came… and went… and I remained grounded. I was genuinely shocked.

BEST ALBUM TO PLAY AFTER A BREAK-UP AND YOU'RE HOLDING A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND SOMETHING SHARP: I'm happily married, we never broke up once…

INDULGENCE YOU REFUSE TO GIVE UP: My exercise allergy.

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY: Live a little: Scrunch, don't fold.

Brooke Fraser's Albertine is out now.

Internet: www.myspace.com/brookefraser