BLUE

I've known about Finnegan's Wake for a while and have heard several tracks of theirs but have yet to hear a full album, despite being quite curious to do so. Blue follows 3 previous albums of which I heard good opinions and read favourable reviews and so I was happy to have the chance to review this newest release by this Belgian ensemble now residing in Brazil. This 4 musicians core is enhanced by a large lineup of guest musicians, among then many Brazilian musicians and also two names who will be more familiar: Guy Segers and Reginald Trigaux.

I must say that if this is representative of their discography then I have been missing out not bothering picking up their releases earlier. Intense is a word that only begins to describe the edgy sounding chamber-rock being played here. The various instruments sit very well with each other; the crunchy aggressive electric guitars, metal-like at times (played by three different musicians on the various tracks it appears on) with the sometimes delicate, sometimes edgy sounding violin, the calmer flute and the heavy thumping of the piano and bass. The songs feature a mix between a classical sounding side, a softer peaceful acoustic aspect and a more abrasive and crude electric facet of the band music. The mix between the two is well balanced and very well done and played. One can find elements from Univers Zero and Present alongside even some Zeuhlish elements (listen to the bass line on Mida and the rhythm and overall mood in that track as well as some female chanting vocals on other tracks such as Luftspiel).

While it is not particularly inaccessible (well, depending on your listening background), it does require several listening "sessions" to digest all of the tracks on here and the various musical ideas presented in each one and the way they're developed. It was lovely from first listen, but once I really got to know the album, it became a very rewarding listening experience. The way they mix the electric and acoustic is particularly well done and their melodies are beautiful, complex and catchy; exactly the way I love it.

This is another fine release from the Altr0ck label and I will certainly now go and get the previous releases of Finnegan's Wake.

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