Thursday 2 August 2012

// Review: SaffronKeira "A New Life: New Life" Part 2

Listening to SaffronKeira's album, part 2 is quite a revelation after listening to the first part. After the dense layers of low-end drones that power through the first half of the double album, you are confronted with a different sounding landscape in the second. Whereas the first half is slow and dark, almost reflective in sound, the second half aims to move you in a new direction. It is as though you are listening to an audible representation of a new beginning.

Thoughts that come to mind when listening to these new tracks are, "A sense of Wonder", "Excitement" and "Uplifting". Yes the low drones are still present and it has an overall slow pace but there are moments of absolute magic. Just as you start to disappear under a blanket of darkness, like being swallowed by water, you emerge into a lightness that creates a sense of relief. With blasts of noise and immaculately soundscaped drones and electronic rhythms, you are led down a path of discovery. A path of self-discovery. But, where the first part was mostly electronic synth work with manipulated acoustic instrumentation towards the end of its 1 hour run, the second part adds beautiful, clean, acoustic piano and guitar and other instrumentation. It is in this half of the double album, that you can hear the likeness to Murcof's work. It is most noticeable in tracks such as First Denti and 190305 where piano is blended with low drone synths and glitchy electronic beats, but can also be found in other tracks such as Acceptance of Mental Disorder and Endless Agony of Being Sick.

Complete track list:

    A New Life: Old Life (Part 1)
1. Soliga (9'17")
2. Symbiosi (10'06")
3. Intrepidation (9'11")
4. Ethan (8'55")
5. Pregnancy (8'01")
6. 8th Months (8'44")
7. Last Days (9'59")
    A New Life: New Life (Part 2)
1. 111208 (13'37")
2. First Denti (8'43")
3. Psychologically Destroying (12'02")
4. 190305 (9'24")
5. Acceptance of Mental Disorder (16'53")
6. Endless Agony of Being Sick (12'50")


My personal highlights are on "190305", where the piano and guitar are met with high notes and glitch rhythms. A nice experiment with distortion effects adds a new layer of intrigue to the track. The other highlight being on "Endless Agony of Being Sick", where the voices and string sections (that have a feeling of being taken from the "Sunshine" movie soundtrack) guide you through the last parts of this strong debut double album. 


Oder your copy of SaffronKeira "A New Life" at Link 1 below.


Visit Link1: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=SaffronKeira

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