I am not alone having a whole lotta love for musical collective The Eden House. Formed by musicians with various past ties to cult Gothic acts Fields Of The Nephilim and NFD such as Simon Rippin and Stephen Carey they brought a lot of sunshine and light into a band who really stood on their own merits. One of the factors that makes them so sublime is a revolving cast of angelic voices from their multi-faceted singers, one of which is the lady in question here Louise Patricia Crane. One could not exactly call this a solo act as although she provides the dulcet tones here she is joined by a versatile list of musician friends, among them naturally are Carey and Rippin. On reading a bit further however I was quite surprised to note that also on board are King Crimson member Jakko Jakszyk and none other than Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull so it is obvious that this collection of songs is likely to be embellished with some prog leanings. There’s also Kyuss/The Obsessed/Fireball Ministry bassist Scott Reeder and bluesman Danny Thompson a veteran artist who among other acts was a founding member of British folk-jazz band Pentangle. This distinguished lot are not present on each and every song but contribute their parts over the 8 tracks. Part of the fun is noting them during playback and that is something I will leave for those wishing to listen to themselves.
Naturally the focus point is on the singer herself and the versatility and nuances on the individual numbers, each of which have their own individuality and charms. Opener ‘Deity’ strikes as the perfect starting point, a natural and uncluttered care-free summertime song graced with beauty and charm, which takes me back to the days All About Eve were singing about flowers in their hair. Simple it might be but the melody is so gorgeous and bounteous that just one listen will have you completely hooked and singing along, although its best left to the experts as if you do you will ruin it. Lush and addictively sweet it’s the perfect starting point before going onto the rest of the album. Snake Oil has a different charm and is eased out of its basket by thick slow drums and the toot of a flute (no need for me to tell you who provides this). The Gothic touch is never far away but things are slightly more complex and the progressive elements joust with the meandering flow giving it a slightly dizzy feeling of heat haze and delirium via infectious venom. Uilleann pipes feature on ‘Painted World’ and it’s a pretty picture indeed, with a certain air of mystery to it. How many ways can one use the word beautiful in a review, well this one is in danger of going over the top. It’s all lush and like a thing you can’t get enough of completely decedent and best saved for a special occasion. There’s more than a touch of 4AD land and the cast of bands such as The Cocteau Twins to the instrumentation of ‘Cascading,’ you can happily navel gaze back across the years to the timeless sounding classic vibe it exudes. All that’s missing is the calm and never forgotten tones of warmth from John Peel meeting the end of the song. No doubt he would certainly have championed this and included in his festive 50 at the end of the year.
Over to the other side and I thought I recognised the name Shir-Ran Yinon who provides Violin and Viola on the title track. Of-course she has joined in with both New Model Army and Eluveitie among others along with piano from Carey make this a heart-warming lullaby of a ballad that fair tugs the heart-strings. Gentle and relaxing the best approach is simply to let it all flow through you and stir up some neo-classical emotions. Ophelia and Isolde are two names that cite classic literature and form spellbinding subject matters, the first providing one of the album’s most hypnotic caresses with a slight hallucinatory touch due to the flute and tin whistle, the second a mystical fever dream, slow, languid and completely beguiling with some fantastic choral vocal gymnastics hitting the high notes. At 39 minutes the album packs plenty into its all too short but succinct running time and you simply won’t want it to end. Sometimes less is more though and after last number ‘The Eve Of The Hunter’ with that dolorous voice and thick bass tones entwine themselves around us you will be begging for a return to these deep blue depths once more.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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