STRANGE ATTRACTORS

This caught my attention due to my recent PA collaborator duties with the crossover team and I hence landed on this rather unique pop sound that hinted at stuff like Split Enz, Peter Murphy, Modern English, The Korgis, The Beloved, Psychedelic Furs and David Sylvian etc?, but all the tunes are lavishly anointed with massive mellotron blasts and quirky electronic arrangements. The band features Dutchmen Ed Van Haagen on bass, keyboards and programming as well as Leo Koperdraat on vocals, guitars, keyboards and lyrics and American Frank L. Urbaniak behind the drums, percussion and lyrics. I was also intrigued by the shimmering cover,plus the inclusion of a photographic artist as well as a video one, a truly complete strategy to woo any prog fan.

Truth is this is another fine example of this new wave of accessible prog that has championed new talents like Vienna Circle, Synaesthesia, the Opium Cartel and Gandalf's Fist among a slew of others, stretching even further the progressive boundaries. So how did we, as team, come to the conclusion that Fractal Mirror has a place here? Well, it's not because you have a mellotron that you automatically get a free prog pass. But it helps when the disc is literally bathing in its warmth! Truth is also that the material is stunning, both lyrically and instrumentally!

"What's Inside" shows off the mellotron cascades right from the get-go, no messing around! Leo sounds a lot like Richard Butler of P-Furs fame, not exactly the worst voice in New Wave pop! This is where the contrast between saccharine and unsettling first shows its true colors. Loopy synths and boom-boom drums add a Manzanera-like vibe, similar to Miss Shapiro on Diamond Head.

"The Fading Ghosts of Yesterday" illustrates the qualities that Fractal Mirror bring to the prog audience, a solid yet weird presentation of simple melodies and odd stylings, thoroughly bombastic expression amid a sense of bizarre, if one pays attention to the infinite little details and the conspicuous lyrics , which have a streak of genius that is hard to ignore.

Take a sterling piece like "Brian's Song" with its rollicking mood, initially vocoded voice like Flash and the Pan (remember them?) and a tempest of howling 'trons that show no mercy, eased only by fluttering flute acoustic guitar and a plaintive vocal that recalls Blackfield.

"Fade Away" is a mournful ride, a kaleidoscope reverie, highly drenched in psychedelia, the keys playing havoc with any consideration of poppiness, a minimalist middle section where the choir mellotron shines oh so brightly! Leo has a sombre tone to his vocal delivery, augmented nicely by big drums and a somewhat familiar sounding refrain. A wink and a nod to classic Porcupine Tree balladry, yet with a personal tinge that screams, "I Like!". Another totally satisfying tune.

Then, only to confound any naysayers and stamp purely prog accreditation to an already convincing disc a 5 part horror mini-epic entitled, "A Life in Darkness Suite" but offering up a taste first, thriftily entitled "A Life in Darkness-Ending". Dutch humor I guess, haha! A brief but forlorn introduction/finale with robotic percussion, hand claps and torrential keys, cool! Part One of the suite introduces "Insects", acoustic in flavor, a simply song with childlike vocal and puerile lyrics, purposefully about scientific discovery, "dissecting and cutting until it got bigger than me". But it's really about insanity and inhumanity, as depicted on the lugubrious "Raising the Stakes", where turbulence and paranoia enter the fray, the exaltation of a deranged and murderous mind. The mellotron evokes the silence of lambs, the ranting of a tortured mind "lingering in the dark". Segue into "Various Methods of Hunting", armed at first with creepy instrumentation and spooky synths, suddenly breezy and then bloody odd, shifting contrasts in a Kafka-esque delusion of conflicting emotions. Call it sweet pain, scary. "Leave Me" is the cry of a screwed up victim, amiably announcing " back to isolation, take your medication, all is left of your memories" , blurring the line between hunter and hunted, turning all protagonists into self-destruction . "The Chair" has some electric connotations, a final seat to Hell as Leo intones eerily "I can see the hatred through the window", the song being the final request before the "life flashes by before my eyes". The lyrics are manic, insane and utterly convincing. "They want to see me burn!" and then, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Toast! A final revisit of the Insects and the deal is done. This has to be one of the smartest suites in recent memory. Bravo, very well conceived !

I hate short albums that clock in under 50 minutes which is the only reason why this doesn't get a gold medal. Otherwise, a real tasty treat!

4.5 Self-similar Echoes