An owl in a nodding fit
I lied
The trauma of intercourse
I'm gonna beg the moon each night
Tenderfeet
Drunk on the faerie queene's tears
I was sent there
Tenuousness (for Dieter)
The vastness of it
These bodies are but shadows cast into matter
The burden of truth
The clown and the cripple
Why she cried
At length
Early morning Berlin

Although the labels description of ‘fairy music’ had me cringing to no end, I knew better the to write this off on that basis alone, given I was familiar with Ignis Fatuus’s debut CD on Cold Spring Records a number of years back now (1998 to be precise). And speaking of Cold Spring, this album was due to be released via that label, yet with little word as to why it has finally appeared on Eibon.

Anyway to the music. Here an album of beauty is presented, mixing aspects of sombre neo-classical, tribal percussive movements, whimsical romantic piano tunes and female vocal led ethereal pop. Of the quite diverse 15 tracks and 61 minutes the standout track would without a doubt be the sprawling ‘the vastness of it’ being a tribal beat driven orchestral marvel, that late track morphs into a guitar led section that could easily be mistaken for a tribute to post rock band Explosions In The Sky. As an added bonus Caul present a remix of ‘I'm gonna beg the moon each night’, however far from presenting a dark ambient reworking as might be expected, a fantastic programmed piece of ambient dub is offered up which actually eclipses the original!

Whilst not as overtly dark & moody as I might have anticipated, the depth & texture of the recording are such to draws you easily into its soothing madness. Tri-gatefold card slip sleeve rounds out the visuals more then satisfactorily.

RJS