THE REAL ME

This album is a very pleasant 2016 discovery for me. The cover is a bit misleading, this is certainly not grey and minimalist, rather it is very colorful and passionate (although is has a somewhat melancholic feel). The music on this albums strikes a good balance between emotional and intelligent rock music, some experimentation and surprising twists, haunting melodies, a few heavy elements and a nice chamber influence from the very tasteful and generously used strings. Generally this has a full and powerful sound. I have heard Clara Kihlstedt singing before but I don't think it was ever as good and fitting as here; she may not be quite at the level of Kate Bush or Bjork but comes dangerously close, dreamy and passionate. The songs are mostly on the slow side but the album as a whole is quite dynamic with very quiet atmospheric ballads side by side with more heavy and energetic songs.

The strongest point on the album are probably the compositions; Flowers has a talent for memorable melodies without being simplistic; he manages to make all the changes and variations in the songs sound organic and natural; and furthermore he plays to the strengths of the team, particularly the singer and the violinists (not sure how much influence Kihlstedt had on this; I'd expect her to have a creative impact on something in which she is so strongly involved).

Hmmm, should I give the five stars? A minor quibble would be that I didn't find the rhythm section all that exciting (solid and competent for sure; sound-wise the drumming is pretty good, but still they rather serve the compositions faithfully than sparkling on their own), and in any case an album would probably need a few years to show that it's a real masterpiece, so I leave it at a strong 4 for the moment; that's the price for giving this one an early review.