CYCLOTHYMIA

It's been a long time since I've heard this Spanish band from Alicante, a city next to the Mediterranean Sea. At that time they called my attention due to the treatment of their musical ideas. After several years, I've come across them again. After listening to their first two albums, I must say that Numen, in my opinion, was a very promising band in a mainly marillionesque style. But why this? Mainly because they focus on melodic and thematic ideas above other considerations. It seems obvious that each song of theirs is an picture painted with delicate brush strokes. The set of each drawing creates a whole in a holistic way that is itself unique and personal. They do not need more or less. In other words, the music of Numen seems to be thought from head to toe. Focusing on this latest work called Cyclothymia (wow, the title is an invitation to get involved in an emotional journey), the details are there, some in sight and others waiting to be discovered. Cyclothymia is an album that will require several listenings and, surely, will never cease to surprise us with some hidden details. Without going any further, the drums accomplish its function in the service of the songs; at no time it is imposed to show unnecessary filigrees. However, their arrangements are refined and colorful, just like Ian Mosley does in Marillion (nobody at this point will doubt the quality of this drummer). The bass performs a work that fits into each of the needs of the tracks and the most appropriate groove. Its color is thick and beautiful; it is in its place supporting all the superior musical framework. Many of its lines create a well thought counterpoint with the melodies created by the voices. The guitar and keyboards display a palette of colors that remind me of other bands like Camel, Pink Floyd or Arena. The range of frequencies they occupy, along with the voices, is very delicate and can easily become saturated; in general, this does not happen, what makes the different parts of the songs has enough room for the silence. Finally, the voice culminates the proposal that we find in this album: six very lyrical tracks of an obvious emotional charge. Making melodic music seems like an easy task, but it is not at all. There is nothing more difficult than doing something simple and honest that reaches the heart for its beauty, and Numen achieves it. Simply for this, you can forgive any fault (all of them are small, by the way) that may be in the production of the album, but, particularly for me, they do not displease me.