Rumour Den's "Chapter & Verse" Review

It's immediately a voice that asks about a book that wasn't written. AJ Gilmore is first, and direct, as if he's reading his own story back to himself. The next instrument to join is the guitar, a bit rough around the edges, and before you really can sit down and listen, "Chapter & Verse" by Rumour Den begins to play.

The song is about a character that everybody sort of remembers from school. The one who thought his talent would just come to him when he needed it, and who was too cool to learn. Gilmore doesn't pretend he's a better man than he is. That's one of the reasons it works here, the delivery remains direct throughout.

Steve Simms is able to keep the music close to the voice. Not a single thing feels unnecessary. The guitars push, the drums keep steady, and there's a melody under all that to hold on to. It's good that this is a song with such a straightforward message and it still leaves something in your head.

I really don't like the fact that this character doesn't get an easy way out in this song. You might be able to turn him into the unlucky dreamer, the one who was just disappointed in life. Rather, the song circles back around to the same question. If it was not your fault, then whose fault was it. It's not a very comfortable question and the song doesn't rush to get away from it.

This is the fourth track on Rumour Den's journey towards the album "Relapse." This song is layered with the knowledge that Gilmore and Simms have stepped away from music, and then returned to it for years. It's about a person who cannot finish what he started, written by two people who have had to do the same themselves.

In the latter half, the song doesn't really ask anymore. It's making its point. The chorus is continually repeating one simple fact. Your life is being written from the first time you breathe till the last time you breathe. There are no drafts and no do overs.

I can't remember the riff or the chorus first, but it was a few days later. I can recall the concept of the entire song. No one else will write your chapters for you. Waiting for others to use the pen can be an ending in itself.