LIGHTDARK

Nosound must be the best band I discovered in 2008. It's a project from Italy of all places. Luckily, it's not the kind of sentimental stuff you might anticipate because of that. Lightdark is very much what the album title suggests. It's a gentle and melancholic album that chooses subtleness over exaggeration, dense atmospheres over swagger and light tones over oppressive chords.

It is a triumph of understatement. So, naturally, you will need to sit back and relax to this one. You need to sink into the enchanting atmosphere of Erra's world and let its slow pace gradually enchant you.

The album will probably have a recognizable flair to it. At least if you're familiar with PT's Sky Moves Sideways or with some of the recent No Man releases. Erra is an admitted admirer of No Man and even got Tim Bowness to sing on one track. So it's hardly a surprise the music treads known grounds. But this never gets in the way of enjoying it. The album is consistent throughout. Despite its obvious influences; it leaves a very personal impression. The inspiration must have run very high as the album exists in a 2CD edition that does not have a dip over its entire 90 minute course.

I haven't been able to lay my hands on anything from Nosound but this Lightdark album. But I sure will as soon as I get the chance to it.