PARTICELLE

4.5 stars. Man I love this band ! It's that melancholy that brings ANEKDOTEN, PAATOS and other of my Swedish favourites to mind that just sucks me in. I'm not sure why the cover art does it for me but it does. As Jim notes there are some differences between this one and the debut and he explains it better than I can, but all I know is that I prefer this one more.

"Idiosincrasia" starts off perfectly just like the start of their first album. Man this sounds so good with those vocals, drums and melancholic vibe. Kicking ass 3 minutes in then it settles back some. "Myths" has a full rich sound as the vocals join in. Melancholic sax leads when the vocals stop each time until they both come in late. "L'abbraccio" has some upfront drumming as the guitar helps out. Vocals after a minute and they will come and go. Sax after 2 1/2 minutes. Man this sounds so good. "Tete" is upbeat with drums and sax outfront. Drums and guitar lead 2 minutes in then the sax returns. It settles before 3 1/2 minutes to a dark mood to end it.

"Non Si Puo Cambiare" is catchy with vocals. Thunder and rain end it as a baby cries. "Sbrisiu" has piano melodies throughout. "Particelle" opens with sadness. It starts to build around 1 1/2 minutes then the tempo picks up after 2 1/2 minutes. Vocals before 4 minutes. Male spoken words around 7 minutes in until after 8 minutes. Great sound here instrumentally and the sax joins in too. So good. "Emilia Malinconica" is very PAATOS-like with vocals. it's fuller before 2 1/2 minutes as the vocals stop and the sax joins in. The tempo picks up after 3 minutes. Nice.

I can understand now why Todd has spoken so highly of this band and album after hearing both of these brilliant recordings.