Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Classic, Artrock | Heft: Jahrgang 2014, eclipsed Nr. 164 / 10-2014 | VÖ-Jahr: 2014 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Kscope | Autor: AS
In view of the acts based here (among others Steven Wilson, Gazpacho) it almost amounts to a knighthood to be signed by the label Kscope. The fact that the St. Petersburg project Iamthemorning is already doing this with its second album testifies to the importance they attach to the duo there. The same is true for the fact that it is given a heavyweight like Marcel van Limbeek (Tori Amos) for the mix. In fact, the young, academically trained Gleb Kolyadin (piano) and Marjana Semkina (vocals) demonstrate extraordinary craftsmanship, compositional skill and exuberant creativity. With their debut album "~" (2012) they concentrated more on a kind of chamber pop with folk elements, but with the current CD they have broken new ground. Is that due to Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison, who - along with strings, a harpist and other musicians - was able to win over for this release? Anyway, the spherically-hushed opener "Intermission IX" is followed by "The Howler", an art rocker with guitars and a scurrying bass, which is powerfully advancing, in which Semkina makes a great figure and reminds of Kate Bush. If the maximum playing length of the tracks was four and a half minutes on "~", then three numbers on "Belighted" would bring it to more, including the dreamy mini suite "Crowded Corridors" and the elegiac program "k. o. s.". The rest of the fifteen songs are quieter and/or more poppy and follow on from the first album. One of the most successful is "5/4", which reminds of songs by Tori Amos with its bar changes (yes, a 5/4 bar is also below).
Top track: The Howler
