The Titanic has always held a mysterious, romantic place in our minds.
The tragedy of the “unsinkable ship” radiates throughout pop culture, spawning books, movies and TV shows. For one musician, the Titanic inspired a grand undertaking.
Brandon Michael Williams, an employee at The University of Mississippi Grisham Law Library, is releasing a self-produced album in conjunction with the 102nd anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.
“The Pride of the Titanic” is an eclectic, energetic fusion of classical composition, electronic synth beats and a spoken script. Everything in the album, excluding some of the spoken lines, comes straight from the mind and talent of Williams. It features cello, trombone, guitar, piano, mandolin and synthetic tones and beats. Individual songs on the album take the listener on a journey, transitioning from solemn piano tones to soaring electronic beats within an individual track.
“I was thinking a lot about technology and more organic things while making this album,” Williams said. “I wanted to experiment with how these contrasting elements worked with each other. Of course, a lot of the sound came from necessity, as I didn’t have actual drums to work with.”
The album was inspired by the story of Alexander Carlisle, the man responsible for the colossal ship’s safety systems.
Prior to the launch of the Titanic, Carlisle became aware that the regulations for ships of such magnitude needed to change to accommodate the number of people. He didn’t push his case hard enough for change, and the Titanic was ill-equipped to handle the passengers when the ship capsized.
The album reimagines Carlisle as a guilty man, burdened by the weight of his inaction.
Carlisle’s guilt isn’t the only focus, though, as tracks like “A Lullaby for Sidney” perfectly capture the despair felt by passengers reconciling with the idea of their imminent death after discovering that they would not be able to get on a lifeboat.
The album is probably best described as a concept album, akin to The Who’s “Tommy” or the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” but labels are hard to assign to this work.
“I guess I’d say it’s an independent musical,” Williams said. “It’s kind of a cop-out to give it a genre, though. Genres can be very limiting.”
Seth Hecox, Brandon’s former bandmate and co-creator of the album “All Folked Up,” said that Brandon has always been driven to produce complex, ambitious, experimental work.
“Brandon’s style has sometimes been exemplary of music-nerd songs, and sometimes focused on more simple melodies and instrumentation,” Hecox said. “He believes he is supposed to create something truly excellent and isn’t going to release anything that he doesn’t feel to live up to other music that is out there, at least from a musician’s standpoint.”
“The Pride of the Titanic” fuses Williams’ penchant for both grandiose, orchestral stylings and simple piano and guitar melodies. With the aid of the spoken script, written by Williams, the album paints a cohesive picture of the tragedy of the Titanic. The album acts as a story within in an album, and sometimes even a story within a story.
“The Pride of the Titanic” drops today, on the anniversary of the fateful voyage. It will be available at The End Of All Music (located on North Lamar), iTunes and Spotify. Do yourself a favor: Grab a set of headphones and let this album take you for a ride through time, space and music.
