A SENSE OF LOSS

I think this would be an decent addition to any collection. It's classified as Psychadelic/Space Rock, but it's symphonic enough for my tastes. There is little droning and avoids the harmony-by-repetition, and not fully resolved harmonies thing that happens with a lot of "space music".

There is a segment of droning half way through the well-done Winter Will Come, but it ends up resolving itself nicely into a legato harmony of broad string movements. And in this way, they are reminiscent of the way that Porcupine Tree uses subtle melodies in their ambient portions, and thus always come off as more "symphonic" for me.

Winter is the highlight of the album for me, and well worth it's 15 minutes.

I guess I could say that this sounds somewhat like Porcupine Tree, and it reminds me of the more abstract stuff that Big Big Train is doing these days, like in the filler tracks in Difference Machine. But it just doesn't sound quite as derivative as that. Gigi Zito's drums, well-featured in Some Warmth into this Chill often have the spontaneous, cymbal dominant feel that Lee Harris gave Talk Talk at their best.

My real rating is more like 3.5, but I round it to a 3 simply because I can't recommend it as "excellent" to people who might find it "too similar" to PT. In the end, the sounds capture the "Sense of Loss" in the title, without being boring and morose and gave me enough to want to listen to the rest of their history.

When an artist releases an album that sounds exactly the same as the preceding one, I always feel a bit cheated. As much as I may have liked the previous album, I don't need a copy. I expect a few changes at least. After all, if I want to hear that specific certain style, I can simply play the old album right? There's enough great music already to be bothered with too much sameness. (I'm sure you've read this in some of my previous reviews already, sorry for being samey then...)

Now, in case you suffer from the same - I feel this is gonna be the key-word to this review - syndromes as me, then the new release from the Italian romanticists Nosound may disappoint you as well. Every song could have been on Lightdark: the exact same sounds, the same vocal melodies, the same melancholic ambience. Luckily, there's one redeeming factor that kept me returning to this record: most of the songs are simply too irresistibly beautiful. Again.

There's one unfortunate exception, the 15 minute closing piece Winter Will Come doesn't work as well as it should. It sits at the end of the record and by the time you get there, chances are big that you're more or less exhausted from the 35 minutes that led towards it. Even though every minute was soaked with gentle atmospherics and enchanting melancholies, the monotonous nature of the music will simply have drained you. Something that wasn't the case with Lightdark. Even for me, the closing track is far too repetitive and not memorable enough to sustain my attention.

Despite the soft and mellow nature of the music I don't recommend you to play this as background music. Maximal effect can only be obtained by playing it really loud. Especially the DVD with the surround mix will serve this purpose.

3.5 stars rounded down, I can't see myself returning to this album a lot. If I need to chill I will simply play the preceding Lightdark.

Contrary to Bonnek's opinion of A Sense of Loss, I find the music here quite different from LightDark. The recording of acoustic instruments is more clean, less treated, more in the front (drums, guitar, piano). What is, unfortunately, the same, is Giancarlo's voice: delivery, treatments/effects, and message. "Some Warmth to this Chill" and "Fading Silently" both allow Zito's drums to significantly jazz up the music (though, I'm not sure it works: it causes a kind of dissention in the music; as if one part of the group is trying to say one thing while the other is on a whole other wavelength. Interesting. ). "Tender Claim" and "Apology" do sound as if they were remixed rejects for LightDark, and "Constant Contrast" sounds like it came from one of BRIAN ENO's early ambient, or proto-ambient music albums. But, in "Winter Will Come" I believe NOSOUND has again created a masterpiece--a piece of music that draws me in and holds my attention along with playing with my mood strings at a very deep level. The song that makes this album worth owning.

A 3.5 star album. Do I rate it up because it is "an excellent addition" or down because it is "good but not essential"? Better yet: go back and listen to LightDark!

I have always liked relaxing music, that kind of music that makes me think about my life and the people who has left us behind or the people we love. Nosound creates a style of music I consider very reflexive. A Sense of Loss, follows the same vein as their previous two albums, but that's their style, whether you like it or not, it has defined very well their ambient connotation. Maybe, it is not full of progressive movements but it is still an excellent album that you can listen to over and over and, if you do like this style of music, never get tired of it as I do. Nosound is definitely one of my favorite bands, besides their tendency, prog or not, I don't care, it's wonderful!