HYPNAGOGIA

Pixie Ninja its explosive psyche-post rock; extraordinary avant-garde sound based on electronics and bewitching old keyboards. A fresh, inventive 3rd album that risks leaving more than one on the floor for a fabulous concept.

'Thanatosis' begins symphonic with keyboards and sax; dark electro break before the thundering sax return; bordering on Art Of Zoyd music for an out-of-phase musical delirium. 'Silver Paper Unicorns' surfs on a cold wave base embellished with a Japanese keyboard giving freshness and relaxation. 'Pandæmonium' not that of the Killing Joke although this interlude has everything of a musical space not found on earth, between Art Of Noise and the Devo, its dreamlike electrified. 'Dance Macabre' is an improbable sound between U2 and Simple Minds, angelic voices of mermaids clinging to the reefs; a break worthy of a maelstrom and an end where flies attack pilots in a glass hole, unique, hilarious, not huge! 'Ora Antarctica' creation, birth, a bit of the Sigur Ros of the beginning, a bit of the Mike Oldfield of the... beginnings with his bells; dreamlike and stunning; on a mid-tempo surfing on 'Rencontres du 3e Type', immense. 'Alpha Waves' hypnotic electro dub with a bewitching Mellotron bringing back to the magnificent hours of Tangerine Dream; it evolves on a Jarrian riff then heavy Hawkwindien, it's musical nitro. Dreamlike 'Oneironaut', archaic bass, glockenspiel, bells of 'Birdy', a gripping riff, half heavy, half Asian... half bewitching, on a boosted Pure Reason Revolution then a long final hypnotic trance rise.

Pixie Ninja releases this more ambitious, hovering instrumental OMNI. (5 pts for the singular concept)

Always difficult to give a detailed opinion when a group claims to be of the "experimental" genre, a term which means everything and says nothing... However, this is the niche chosen by the Scandinavians of PIXIE NINJA with their third album (after 2017 and 2020). The founding duo of 2015 Jostein HAUGEN and Marius LEIRANES is still in place and the omnipotent but remarkable Mattias OLSSON is still behind the barrels.

We are therefore dealing with a totally instrumental and particularly adventurous opus, "Hypnagogia" describes the transitional state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, a tortuous subject which fits perfectly with the music. When listening to this album, you will have to be extremely concentrated, fortunately I would say it only lasts forty minutes...some tracks are nevertheless more accessible than others.

The inaugural piece "Thanatosis" is the most exciting probably thanks to the grace of Jorgen MUNKEBY's saxophone which softens it considerably, it is very cinematic music which will not leave you indifferent, to make it short I would say that PIXIE NINJA only resembles 'to PIXIE NINJA on this particular track. "Silver Paper Unicorns" is lighter, more lyrical too, with a main theme that is easy to memorize, which I really like. ''Dance Macabre'' is aptly named, the percussive work of Mattias OLSSON is at its peak here, it is he who carries and propels the piece towards the upper echelons of progressive music, the term experimental takes on its full meaning here. ...it's still listenable, don't worry. "Ora Antarctica" which follows, sounds like a tribute to our planet and to the decline that is looming on the horizon, a piece apart because it is relatively calm. The concluding piece "Oneironaut" wanders from the northern mists to the desert confines of another undetermined place on Earth, also very adventurous, not to be put between everyone's ears, in all sincerity it is necessary to follow, it is seriously disturbing in the like......until 4:50 it flows slowly, after...

I didn't like "Pandaemomium" fortunately less than three minutes, a bit messy nor "Alpha Waves" in the same register but unfortunately much longer....

Avoid listening on a depressed evening!