|
Like many recent Trisol releases, this newie from AnnaVarney is a lavishly-presented affair, containing not only the album but an accompanying DVD which runs for ten minutes & adds a visual element to the title track, as well as some lovingly-printed sleeve pages that contain the lyrics plus some appropriately offbeat art work. The album as a whole is a very unique, often offbeat affair with AnnaVarney's odd, unique vocals straddling the line between male & female, a kind of asexuality that gives the sometimes sexual lyrics a more ambivalent feel, are they homo-erotic? hetero-erotic? Or more likely, neither, it simply doesn't matter. The music, which sounds like some kind of medieval cabaret, with orchestral motifs & harpsichord very much in evidence, along the lines of Goethes Erben (particularly on 'The Urine Song') or Das Ich, but proving more outlandish than either, makes for a kind of aural freakshow. The myriad twists & turns that each of the six tracks take mean you certainly can never be quite sure what's going to happen next, witness the opening title track, which alternates between a strong tribal/orchestral hybrid & quieter moments backed up by mournful vocals while '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea' starts off like a piece of dark chamber music, the mood is haunting & brooding, almost ghostly although the spoken vocals, delivered like a strange story teller, are as offbeat as ever. It's only later that the percussion makes its presence felt, adding a more medieval flavour which could almost be the soundtrack to some dark jester's desperate capering for his life! The instrumental 'Stains Of You' is a more straightforward (mainly down to the lack of vocals!) medieval-styled piece & should appeal more if the album's offbeat touches are a little much for you as should the end of the closing 'Bonus Tracks' (for so it is called) for pretty much the same reason, the climax being given further oomph by some fine synth leads, indeed this is the best part of the album for me & it's likely that the instrumental side of the album are more likely to have a wider appeal than the lyrics which, for newcomers, are likely to take some getting used to! Still, this is an album that is sure to make you sit up & listen &, besides, it's always encouraging to see so unique an artist as AnnaVarney being given full rein to fully explore their musical borders in this manner.
|
