NORTH STAR

Even if Curved Air is an old and established band, "North Star" was my first encounter with it. The band recorded it's first record back in 1970 and they did six records and one live record in the seventies, one record fourteen years later 1990 and now twenty-four years later the band's eighth record is released 2014. It is a lengthy record which cover has a lot of colours with perhaps a rainbow theme and a red star in the highest place.

What's significant with Curved Air's music is the vocals of Sonja Kristina. I like them very much. They aren't musically perfect and it isn't very strong but it's very unique and warm. The vocals has a folk touch and Kristina's does sound a bit like the Swedish singer Marie Selander which I love. Of all fourteen songs eleven was more than good and five of them was very good. They come from a rich musical world with vibrating violins everywhere and a lot of great guitar solos too. The most eclectic and interesting songs are "Young mother" where the sympathic melody, violin and solo make a wonderful composition and "Images and signs" which also is noble(9/10). "Interplay", "Magnetism" and "Situations" are also fantasic pieces of music I really recommend. The whole record is full of virtuosity and warmth so I think you will like it. If you like the spirit of the psychedelic late sixties I think you will find glimpses of that too.

So the efforts of singer Sonja Kristina, drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa, guitarist Kirby Gregory, violinist Paul Sax, keyboardist Robert Norton and Chris Harris are worth praising. My rating for this album will be 3,57, which I round up to four stars.