EVAPORATE

Not really knowledgeable in a particular style means nothing when there so much blurred demarcation lines between prog genres anyway. Case in point, this remarkable album by this Scottish trio, which I landed upon by sheer good fortune and, as it can occasionally happen, bowling me away completely like a rolling strike right down the alley, pins flying, taking toll. The track list feels like an endlessly radiant suite, each piece blending with the previous challenge, opening eyes and ears with refined infusion.

Being a total pushover for dense atmospheres and a celestial voice, the very first seconds of "Bruise Pusher" nailed me to a proverbial cross of infinite salvation, as the tingling harp line intermingles with dense guitar swaths, walls of orchestrated string and a female vocalist by the name of Elizabeth Heaton that radiates both delicate power and shimmering beauty. The title track veers to a more electronic realm, with brooding, almost sinister bass tremors, the plaintive emanations from her sorrowful voice hitting hard and most of all, a constantly hopeful piano twinkle that serves to raise the spirit. The orchestrations again rule the waves, as the vaporizing water flood the ears. "Soveraine" segues perfectly into a heartfelt chant, each note expressive and meaningful in its fragility, guided along by the layered cello, as well as echoing guitar arpeggios, and a sense of eternity that just grabs at the senses. Imagine a proggier version of Portishead, Beth Gibbons was after all, one of the finest singers in music. This impression is most evident on the immensely seductive "Glue", featuring a magnificent performance all around, what with the electronic pace, the symmetric guitar rasps and that serpentine swirl of a siren sitting atop a rocky crag, beckoning the sailors to meet their fate. The denouement is just plain sublime. An exhausted piano serenely searches for a new avenue of expression, even more sedate than the previous commotion, "Sword to Shield" showcases a more orchestral chamber quartet feel that provides excruciating beauty to the arrangement, kneeling at the shrine of forceful emotional rapture and acceptance. Here again, the pained buildup of "Dust and Bone" emits an overt sense of vulnerability, hesitantly bold in a rather odd way, as exemplified by the percussive percolations of Ross Cochran-Brash's kit. This gem is followed ideally by a swooning voice that glimmers in the twilight, "Awake" suggesting that gentle rekindling of awareness that initiates every day, the consciousness of breath and senses. A pastoral deflection on the originally bright "In Sunny Landscapes", a peeling off layers of resistance, reflective in the mood variations and the basic simplicity of the arrangement, the heavenly voice firmly ingrained, the sweet orchestrations ruffling no feathers, and a perfect landing finale. As if wishing to define the notion of contrast, the cottony mist of "Lapsing" is like witnessing a solo piano dirge that slowly escalates out of its two-note torpor, a dripping cello expressing deep felt emotions and a bass furrow opting for even more undertow gloom, this tremendous piece is where the darker side resides. Somber, ghostly, and utter melancholy. Would you be at all surprised if the final track is the apotheosis of this album, fittingly encapsulating all the qualities that make this a sensational discovery? "Howling at the Clouds" is the stamp on your sonic passport, proving that you have entered the realm of the divine. After the childlike piano intro, the zither has its say, the reverberating drums echoing off the walls, trembling guitars that seem to shriek and bellow, setting the table for the vocalized mournful story, eventually stormed by the onsetting winds of despondence, scattering the clouds in all directions. A magnificent silence it all.

This was an overwhelming experience the first time I heard it and now, ten times in, it just keeps revealing itself to me as a prized masterpiece.

5 dehydrations