WELCOME TO MY DNA

Perhaps more luminous than Blackfield II, musically talking, which means a departure from some previous compositions they've got us used to, still retaining some essence in songs like "Far Away", "Rising of the tide", "On The Plane" and maybe "Glasshouse", all good songs by the way.

Now let's see what I didn't expect: "Go to hell" is the first really unexpected thing when you start listening to the album, irate lyrics later drowned in beautiful melodies, anger can be better understood as one natural state of the spirit when expressed with beauty.

"Waving", led by a lively acoustic guitar riff, it's the happiest song of the album and maybe the happiest Blackfield song ever, wich evolves in crescendo with vocals, strings and backing vocals gradually joining in and then exploding in a pop chorus. A hook song that has a videoclip, and you can consider a possible Single candidate.

"Dissolving with the night" shows a fabulous compromise with the songwriting, a somewhat dark ballad with heartbreaking vocals by Aviv. Then the quiet piano melody becomes sinister to be finally flood by an orchestral raid. A highlight with no doubt for me.

"Blood" is much like a crucial moment of the record, an omen warning that "Here comes the blood", a vivace suddenly emerged from beneath some Middle East sands.

"On the plane" is a subtle ballad with a memorable chorus, a very good functional song to mantain the flow in the record.

"Oxygen" is the most pop song I've heard from Blackfield, and when it comes to pop, Aviv is an expert, and he did it really well (helped by the production of Trevor Horn). If there were a single taken from the album some time, aside from "Waving", it would be probably this.

"Zigota" is definitely another highlight, courtesy of Aviv Geffen, a different version of a song included in his "Memento Mori" album.

"DNA", finally, helps you understand the whole background concept. I would liked an epic ending in the vein of "End of the World", this is rather a bittersweet ending but still a very good song that stands on its own.

Something more to remark: The album includes the best string and orchestra arrangement effort of the whole three albums, in my opinion.

Why not to give it five stars? Well, maybe some of the lyrics that are too simplistic, and a few songs seem to have an unfinished ending. But this is a very well balanced record and has the Blackfield standard quality you do expect, which won't disappoint you, and one more time Steven Wilson is vindicated as a genius of the audio engineering.