Sunday 31 January 2016

Review - Snowpoet - Snowpoet




Snowpoet – Snowpoet (Two Rivers Records)

CD / DL

Out Now

8.5 / 10

London based nature-inspired poetry duo release their debut album.

A copy of the debut album from Snowpoet should accompany a letter to Collins Dictionary requesting amendment of an entry thus:

Gorgeous (ˈɡɔːdʒəs )

adjective

1.     strikingly beautiful or magnificent  
2.     (informal) extremely pleasing, fine, or good
3.     the 2016 album by Snowpoet

With 2014s Butterfly EP came a breath of fresh air.  Sumptuous melodies and angelic voices graced us with the mini collection from Lauren Kinsella and Josh Acroleo aka Snowpoet.  The time afforded to the making of their debut album is well worth the wait for this is no ordinary long player.

What makes this so special?  Love and affection probably. An acute attention to detail and a fascination with perfection.  Prose is intermingled with poetry as Kinsella’s often pure and virtuous voice whispers and softly caresses the delicate instrumentation.  Words often pulsating into the air with complete abandon for any backing music.

Opener, Mermaid is a fluttering beginning with a sung vocal, spoken words and almost improvised pianos and percussion.  It spirals upwards from a humble start maybe like a mermaid rising through the water from the sea-bed encountering creatures and turbulence along the way.  In A Quiet Place is introduced with faint whispers and will draw comparisons to Kate Bush and her Hounds Of Love album, similarities maybe also to Laurie Anderson from an avant garde aspect.

Incorporating folk and jazz, the album can be seen as a collection inspired by and made for nature.  It enhances everything that is natural whilst also involving skilfully inspired samples and electronic melodies.  It’s so easy listening that its almost untrue, it is rarely taxing and is the perfect soundtrack to a relaxing car journey or a lazy Sunday afternoon. It frequently inspires and ignites feelings of 
complete joy.

Glad To Have Lost is held together by an enigmatic drum loop which seems to lovingly caress Kinsella’s vocals which are stunning throughout, and If I Miss A Star and Little Moon Man provide little more than a piano and guitar respectively in their accompaniment indeed the later of the two is worthy of being an album highlight.

An experimental foray with Gathering shows that the duo isn’t afraid to be different at times as does album closer Eviternity which belies its seven minutes and slips by in a heartbeat.  Largely instrumental with some closing poetry, it brings a quite elegant album to a close.



Links
Two Rivers Records
Snowpoet website
Snowpoet on Twitter
Snowpoet on Facebook
Butterfly EP review


Published on Louder Than War 22/01/16 - here




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