SONGS FROM MIRAGE

Even if Aranis' EP Hidden Soundscapes was a collaboration with Toon Fret and not an album per se, it was warning us that changes were due to their chamber prog realm; and Mirage is the first step to these changes. Among the changes is definitely the artwork, the results the encounter of the two males of the debut's cover and the five females of their second album's sleeve. Obviously the baby present here will be on most of the member's minds in the coming years, starting I think with their piano player that has not played the two French gigs this year. Then of course there are three heavenly singers, each as beautiful as the five other female muses of the group. I think Stijn and Joris are among the luckiest male musicians around.

First and most striking is the addition of three singers that act mainly as choirs (but not only) much the way that the Kobaian singers do for Vander's Magma's music, even if Aranis doesn't go Zeuhl. The next striking thing is how darker Aranis' musical realm has become: from light and happy and falsely careless (the band is always very tight) to now darker, thoughtful, sombre (but not sinister or macabre), it's quite a swing they managed in just one album. And as a result, Aranis plays much slower music than in their first two albums, but also becomes more solemn at times.

From the contrabass drones come out one then three slow moaning voices, leading the way for Marjolein's accordion, before Axelle's piano leads the same accordion into a French-sounding valse? The 6-mins+ Ouverture certainly give plenty to the listener, but the boundaries are not set yet. Probably the most energetic track of the album is Chamber Rock, a track that brings us back to the first two albums, but it is sandwiched between two slow sung tracks like the single voice Fresia and its reprise. A little further Airesym and Jelimena are obvious highlights as the closing 10-mins Finale is. A bit more dissonant (that's rather new also from Aranis) are tracks like Aynu and Lever In Plakjes and one can feel that they need more experience to venture out in this area. Enjuminenna is more of the same in that area.

Well if you liked the first two albums with its instrumental chamber prog, you might want to be careful when approaching this third album, which has taken a deep and slower pace and turned in some ways a bit between Magma (the unavoidable comparison due to the choirs) and Univers Zero (the slow dark chamber music) without going to the extremes of these two, but Songs From Mirage is just as worthy as its predecessors, if not more.