A GIFT FOR YOUR DREAMS

I sampled Will-O-the Wisp's self-titled debut and I absolutely loved it. It is still one of my favorite albums from this decade: a charming yet deceptively simplistic piece of modern psychedelia. If you were to read my review of that first album, you would find that two things really struck me, those being the vocals and dominating keyboards.

Well, my second sample of Will-O-The-Wisp is A Gift For Your Dreams, and both of those strengths have been diluted. The music is far more guitar driven now. Indeed, when I finally got around to checking the album credits, I found that WOTW was now relying on a GUEST keyboardist instead of having one onboard. How dissappointing! Sure the keys on this release are ok, but Nassi created something special on the first release.

The other change for the worse is in the vocals. Don't get me wrong. Gerakitis is still giving us those eclectic and eccentric performances that sometimes overpower and sometimes fade into the music. But I miss Sofia Rapti. Those few tracks that she sang on the debut, where her lines and Gerakitis's lines twisted around each other, were brilliant. We get a female vocalist on a version of Nature Boy on the last track, but it's just not the same.

Ok, I've mentioned a few negative things (at least relative to their first album) so let me mention one very positive and welcome element on this album. Amalia Kountouri plays one mean flute! On the tracks where she is featured, her understated talent definitely makes itself felt.

One more difference from the debut is that the band has a few instrumental tracks on the album. That isn't really either a positive or a negative, but sure is a difference.

Anyhow, this gets three stars. It's good, but the things that made WOTW compelling for me have largely evaporated.