LIVE HAPPENINGS - PART 2

This is the second part of the "Live Happenings" EP series, which can be downloaded for free from Dead Can Dance's website. As I explained in my review of the first part, the band is offering 4-track live EPs that let us know they will be touring later this year, due to the release of a new studio album after so many years. So start your engines and prepare to receive it with arms wide open.

In this second part we will have 27 minutes of folk, neo-classical, ethereal music with the inherent high quality of this band. It starts with "The Love that cannot be", whose more than eight minutes share and provoke different emotions, mainly due to Lisa's voice, but the musical background is also primordial. The music is tranquilizing, thoughtful and touching, it gets more emotional after five minutes.

"The Lotus Eaters" is actually one of my favorite songs from the whole DCD catalogue. Here the folk and ethnic sound is present all the time, with great percussion, a wonderful use of strings and of course the keyboards as background. Here we can also appreciate both voices, though Lisa's voice is the main here, Brendan's one joins in some moments. A true journey to other lands, and of course, a wonderful performance.

"Crescent" is the longest track with more than nine minutes. This is a song led by Brendan Perry's voice, with a cool progression and addition of elements while the seconds pass. Of course the ethnic sound is present, along with some neo-classical strings and a great synth as background. There are moments where it becomes more emotional, with Perry's voice reaching higher notes, but then it slows down and continues with the mid-tempo rhythm that lasts until the very end.

The last song is "Minus Sanctus" which happens to be the shortest one. Here we listen to Lisa's voice, taking us into a temple and making a moment of self-reflection. This second part of Live Happenings is worth downloading, because you will have a nice experience of their live shows, and at the same time, dream about witnessing a performance of theirs (which I really wish). Three stars.

Enjoy it!