Personnel: Victoria Lloyd, Ben Fargen, Chris Ross

1. Pieces
2. Twenty-four Years
3. Mirror
4. Abyss
5. Silence
6. He Is There
7. Close To Me
8. Warm
9. Not Like Me
10. Love Is Blind

http://www.clairevoyant.com

Torch-core meets post-gothic electronica in this
addictive collection of songs, Claire Voyant’s
third longplayer. Echoes of Garbage and Curve
emerge from the slick, bright production.
Despite the songs’ minor key melodies and
luminous atmospherics, they are never less than
hook-laden, insinuating themselves in the
listener’s subconscious like the best pop songs.
Ben Fargen’s guitar is more textural than
traditional “lead” guitar parts; he still gets to
strut his stuff more so than on previous
offerings. The guitar swaggers in “Close To Me,”
and soars plaintively in “24 Years.” The
recording is most dominated by Chris Ross’ synths
and programming. He has absorbed the lexicon of
electronic music, and creates ethereal sounds
that refer to, if not ape, those of Bjork and
Aphex Twin. The rhythm section is consistently
danceable and varied, at the same time. “Pieces”
wouldn’t sound out of place in a club, while
“Mirror” is funeral and sinister. Victoria
Lloyd’s vocals are meltingly smooth. Rather than
a folk or classical-based style (common among
goth/ethereal singers), Lloyd uses langorous jazz
phrasing; hints of Vaughan and Wilson can be
heard, along side Sioux and Fraser. Lloyd’s
vivid lyrics portray her as an idealist,
disgusted by love’s betrayal, yet unwilling to
give up the quest for perfect love. It’s a
darkly romantic pose, redolent of old Hollywood
glamour. She occasionally strays into darker
territory: the narrator of “Mirror” is filled
with self-loathing and co-dependency (“I need you
like my faith in the divine); what she sees in
the mirror isn’t so pretty. “Warm” similarly
(unhealthily) boasts of a heart that’s “manic or
diseased but always true.” In this way,“Love Is
Blind” becomes the photo-negative of a make-out
album. Romance has its silver lining, betrayal
follows seduction. At least Claire Voyant makes
such depressing realities irresistible ear-candy.

--Craig

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Reviews of esoteric, atmospheric literature, music and movies:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ethereality/

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