NOVELLA

Being my personal favourite by this band, I'm having a hard time trying to understand why it generally gets such mixed or unfavourable reviews. Though "Can You Hear Me?" overstays its welcome a bit (ten minutes would have been sufficient), it's still well written and flawlessly executed. "The Sisters" is a haunting piece of lost faith that features a simply brilliant Spanish guitar solo that threatens to drag forth tears every time - next time you listen, turn the volume all the way up for the last thirty seconds with the lights off. Trust me. By far the most superior piece on this record - and, in my humble opinion, the standard-bearer for the band's body of work as a whole is "Touching Once." Covering ground in classical, medieval, and jazz music without losing touch of where it started or where it wants to go, this piece sums up to my ear everything a group like this should and could be. A brilliant record, I'm just sorry that more of the few of us it seems who are familiar with the band don't rate it much higher than we do.