Album: “The Dark Influence” by Freecall Jupiter

December 7, 2021 Off By Jon

Freecall Jupiter is a band featuring brothers Tom Gee (Lead Vocals/Guitars) and Marcus Gee (Bass/Backing Vocals) along with Luke Bocchetta on Drums. In another life the three of them played the Bournemouth music circuit under the name “Prohibition”, however, this chapter of the band ended in the late 00’s and they all dispersed to work on different musical projects. Tom notably performed with Dorset Music Award Winners “The Longest Day” and also his own band “King Of Hearts”. The trio got together in 2018 for a jam which inevitably turned into the foundations for a new album. They didn’t actually meet in the same room again until after the album had been finished, as they all lived in different Cities/Countries/Continents. They have been very fortunate to have the technological ability to create music through the magic of online file sharing. Guitarist Tom explains “the three of us grew up playing music together, so transitioning to creating music remotely felt very natural”. The band all recorded their own parts in their own home studios; after which they were individually sent to drummer Luke who mixed the finished creations, which were then mastered by engineer Steve Kitch (keyboard player in The Pineapple Thief). The release itself is a concept album based on an imaginative and detailed short story that can be read in full below. There have been three videos created to further accompany the album, where they worked with Tom’s formed bandmate in “The Longest Day” Dan Henry at Giantkiller Studios and filmmaker Samuel J Daniels.

The album and musical soundtrack to the story takes you on a hard Rock progressive journey through a host of different styles with psychedelic, electronic and even some subtle jazz influences. Freecall Jupiter has certainly looked well outside of the box with their creative skills, pushing the boundaries and their own abilities to create something that is really unique. Exceptional effect-laden atmospheric guitar work; coupled with imaginative rhythmic sections and expressive vocal delivery make the multi-dimensional record push the listener’s senses in a multitude of directions, requiring the full investment of time to listen to the concept in its entirety to fully appreciate. Drummer Bocchetta from the band said “It has been a passion project for the love and to document what we’ve done and can do, I suppose it’s mainly for our own enjoyment but if other people like it then great!”

The Dark Influence (The Story)

An icy wind gravitated towards her pale face as she stepped off the arriving boat at midnight. She fixed a cold calculated stare at the small, dilapidated town and started to set her broken mind to the task in hand. He awoke in a haze of alcohol and narcotics ingested just a few hours previously. It had been a heavy night of indulgence to mark the end of a particularly abhorrent (but for him) lucrative job that had had him feign religion in order to obtain a small fortune from a select few vulnerable individuals. The authorities had nicknamed him, “The Freelancer”, as it was his trait to never stay in one place; this equated to his actions being erratically spontaneous. However thus far; through sheer clumsy luck, he had evaded captivity. The face that stared back at him as he gazed in the mirror was one of loneliness, instability and bitter contempt. The reflection of his only distinguishable feature; an ugly tattoo of a feather on his right forearm which was the result of a drunken decision from his youth, glared back at him. The scene that he had witnessed the night before was imprinted in his brain. The arrival of the mysterious women was playing round in his head. It was something about her eyes; he felt that they were beacons guiding him home.

As the day’s capricious atmosphere developed into instability, he spotted her pale face through a curtain of raindrops. Immediately he was transfixed by her immeasurable beauty. The thin smile she gave him secured his infatuation; part of him was breaking away into a complete loss of control. The look she gave him that day compelled him to declare war on all his previous life failings. After the first meeting, things changed dramatically. He had a new purpose for life, a core drive and ambition. He reinvented his purpose for being, made decisions to perform his limited talents in a legal capacity in a manner he never would have before. He set the bar high and built defences to protect against the erosion of self-doubt. He was determined to crack the code that would lead to this state of mind being his forever. This was his evolution into something better. This he felt was his truest form. When the inevitable failure occurred, it triggered a spiral of self-destruction, unparalleled to anything he had experienced before. By the time he had reached the bottom, he had nothing left but the memory of a thin smile on what seemed like a far off distant shore. She reappeared into his life in the early hours of the morning a few weeks later. She embraced him like a bird of prey comforts a dying animal.

It was all too easy to whisper soothing words of encouragement into the ear of the empty husk of a man. The seed she had planted during their first encounter had grown, its branches forcing their way into every crevice of the weak, vulnerable mind. He was ready, he was hers. He had been lying on the cold hard ground observing the menacing looking apartment building for quite some time. An hour ago, he thought that the figure lurking by the bottom corner of the building was an undercover police officer. However; after the figure evaporated into the night, he decided that it was just a fabrication created by his insistent paranoia. The revolver that he had been instructed to acquire felt clumsy in his shaking hands. As he glanced at the ugly tool, he counted the days since he had last spoken to her. His heart quickened as conjured images of the time they spent together began to appear; her intelligent eyes, the way she would seductively trace her finger around the outline of his feather tattoo; she could make anything beautiful. When he was with her, he felt like he had obtained a piece of heaven. It was time to move. As he crept up the stairs, all the other buildings around him fell away. Like they had discussed, he passed seven closed doors before coming to a halt outside the eighth. He fumbled the revolver that was hidden in one of the deep pockets of his jacket.

He knocked on the door. As the door creaked open, the occupant of the apartment looked at the freelancer with an expression of stunned confusion that quickly morphed into deep fear as the revolver was raised. The freelancer turned his head away as he squeezed the trigger. Later, he found himself by the shore where he had first observed her arrival. He knew that from far away her eyes had seen what he had accomplished for her. He lay down, exhausted. Whilst listening to the sound of the waves, he started to disconnect all feelings from his overcrowded mind for what he had done. As he closed his eyes he could hear the sound of sirens approaching. The trial was very short and decisive. The Freelancer was deemed mentally unstable and was taken to an institution called Unit 22. Investigators searched long and hard for evidence leading to a motive for the murder of what appeared to be a man who was in no way connected to the Freelancer. However, none was ever found. He had been extremely persistent that he had acted alone, he was determined that he would never forsake her to the same fate that he was destined for. The heavy medication meant that the Freelancer never put up a struggle as he was taken to his new home: a padded cell. As he sat alone; absentmindedly tracing his finger around the outline of his feather tattoo, he profusely clung onto the memory of her. He knew that as long as he had that memory he… they would be alright.

Track-Listing
Divide
Living With The Strain
Freelancer
Raindrops
Frontline 51
Hydrogen & Gold
All I’ve Got
Ghost In The Dark
Fail To Answer
Divided
Unit 22
We’re Alright