Like the violin-and-cello backdrops on Sonic Mystics for Poems (of Life and Death of a Phoenix) (NO LABEL 01-ANBL), the vocal parts not so much. A shame as it’s supposed to be Andrea Burelli’s album, and she’s brave enough to go full-on autobiographical in her very personal and poetic lyrics, wherein human existence itself is perceived as a fragile and unknowable thing, which she expresses using the metaphors of landscapes and skies.
The string section is provided by Mari Sawada (violin) and Sophie Notte (cello); they do it with the precision of the grim reaper, if that supernatural entity were equipped with a razor-thin scythe that could shave the skin off an earwig. Haven’t heard either of them before in any context, although Notte is a member of the German Youth Orchestra and Sawada plays in Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop. Actually now I rescind earlier opinion above as the album gets much better when Burelli does multiple part harmony, and here somehow it’s easier to perceive how steady her voice is, hitting the notes with unwavering accuracy. Maybe this is why the string players were selected too. If they had crossbows, not a single bolt would miss. They ought to come hunting for bad critics, like me. A lot of weight in their work. They emulate statues, cast in classical poses, lit by the moon.
Andrea Burelli released this one herself and has absorbed influences from classical music and non-Western sources, including Turkish, Indian, and eastern European folk. As to that you can kind-of make out the Voix-Bulgares thing on certain tracks…double-tracked Burelli vox in high-range mode creating astringent tastes in your brain. Oh, and maybe touches of modern electronica feed in here too, ultra-minimal synths and beats, but used as sparingly as anything else on this economical set. Moody black-and-white art photos on the sleeve may have led me into error as perceiving this album as twee or sentimental, whereas now I perceive a steely core of inner strength in these brief, tautly-wound tunes. (24/10/2023)