Toni Childs
The Woman's Boat

If you're looking for a voice that moves you, penetrates to the marrow of your bones, cuts you in two: I think you've found it. At least, that's the effect it had on me on first listen, and even afterward, from the Californian singer Toni Child.

Toni had debuted almost by chance and barely in her twenties in Berlin, replacing the lead singer Terri Nunn. Subsequently, many collaborations between London and the States or what was once called "musical apprenticeship" continued until 1985, when she finally signed her first major contract with A&M, following which her first album "Union" was released, recorded in Europe between London and Paris; with it, Toni achieved great success particularly in Australia and New Zealand where it topped sales charts, surpassing a total of 1/2 million copies. After another significant collaboration for the soundtrack of the film "City of Angels", in '91 her second album "House of Hope" was released, which closely followed the fate of the first: huge success in Australia and New Zealand, but not in America, which inevitably affected its sales volume.

This brings us to what is considered her masterpiece and which I also believe to be so: "The Woman's Boat" released in 1994 repeats the path of its predecessors, except for a moderate improvement in her home country which consequently makes it the best-selling album for our Toni, unjustly little known or almost in our country, but which I think deserves the highest honor in our beloved site.

I have my reasons that go beyond the collaborations of absolute prestige featured in it and I mention: Peter Gabriel, ah, this one you do know! And then there’s Robert Fripp on guitar, synthesizer, and composition, yes, he's a well-known musician too and their contribution is evident! The quality and musical novelty are there to prove it: they're apparent to all ears. But Gabriel's contribution is certainly no less: the track "Lay Down Your Pain," aside from the vocals, seems to have come out of one of his best albums!

"The Woman's Boat" is a moderately autobiographical concept album about female navigation in this life as clearly shown by the title, a journey often fraught with great difficulties as immediately evident from birth in "Womb" marked by the heavy heartbeat of the newborn, which will shake the walls of your music room. "In the Womb" the child establishes a dramatic dialogue with her mother which I summarize with the question: "Mother, did I ask you to come into the world? What did I come here to do, suffer?"

But the mother, like all mothers in this world, tries to lull and encourage her daughter in "Welcome to the World," which is undoubtedly one of the happiest tracks introduced by Toni's lullaby marvelously accompanied by the sarangui, a sort of Indian violin you might imagine who introduced..... After having (maybe) convinced the daughter that life is beautiful and worth living, there is immediate contact with reality in: "Predator" with a classic interjection in Gabriel's style in which, however, Toni’s immensely full voice stands out, with variations that give you shivers, as described above, leaving you breathless with emotion and participation! Am I exaggerating? Try to believe it!

Once it has been made clear what the female role may be, either as prey or more romantically, as the object of desire, it is clear that there must be a positive reaction from this child, now a young woman, in "I Just Want Affection" which opens with an anguishing solo of the strange instrument from before, the sarangui, which couldn't be more anguishing and encapsulates all the doubts, uncertainties, and emotional states of a girl in search of affection, love inevitably necessary to make her "boat" overcome the stormy sea of Life. Following the predictable situation: "I Met a Man," finally! A track in total contrast with the rest of the tracks: sweet, an alluring and happy voice accompanied by the tabla and sweet, convincing voices, in short, our heroine has found love and the result, what could it be? That of "Wild Bride" or a wild bride, in the sense that she immediately makes clear what her role is, her fears, but also her expectations, obviously magnificently described by Toni's voice, composer of all the lyrics of this work.

And then, after the commitment arrives: "Sacrifice" which I'd leave to a woman to better describe, but which to a man often unfortunately seems taken for granted.........and consequently the virtuous reaction in: "Lay Down Your Pain" or put pain aside, because you need to move forward! But this ninth track lets the protagonist's strength of mind emerge, who finally understands the role of the one who brought her into the world, a world often not at all generous with the fairer sex, all musically marked by the Gabriel/Fripp collaboration with prevailing percussion "à la US" and Fripp’s synth.

The last two tracks are still very intense: after difficult trials, our young woman finds balance and faces a long mature life in "Long Time Coming," not without satisfactions and serenity as shines through from the calm, vaguely joyful, and complacent narrative of the protagonist; while the finale could only be: "Death"...... Death for Child is.....decidedly dark and "conclusive," perfectly rendered by Fripp’s music, so much so that I almost never manage to hold back (thick) tears of emotion, especially when this woman now at the end of her journey asks, again, metaphorically to her mother "Can you hear me, can you hear me now? Did you die alone? Did you die in fear........? Mom can you hear me? It is now that I need you! I who killed myself with dreams, often never realized!" The beat of her heart like at the beginning and Fripp’s synth bring us to the epilogue, with Toni’s heartbreaking highs concluding that in the end "It is good to be here, (in the beyond) mom, but mom can you tell me at the end if I’ll be saved? If I decided to arrive here......." Stop because another wave of tears starts.....................Too heavy, too much!

An album difficult to categorize and which I have paired with World Music in homage to Peter Gabriel and the style he imprinted. I sincerely hope, I very much hope, that I have managed to convey to you the feelings that this absolute masterpiece can transmit. A masterpiece in terms of novelty, lyrics, music, performance, and naturally the rendering of the theme tackled, certainly not a simple one. One of the most beautiful albums in my record collection!