SILHOUETTE MOON (NL+E)

De Engelse broers Jack en Paul Davis doen na hun alleraardigste debuut White Clouds (zie iO86) weer van zich spreken. Ten opzichte van de melodieuze symfo van enkele jaren geleden is er nu sprake van enkele veranderingen ten goede. Zo is de productie evenwichtiger, de orkestraties wat vetter en zijn de composities toegankelijker. Zeker de themamelodieën zijn van grote klasse en bijzonder pakkend. In al die sfeerrijke passages, gedragen door de rustige stem van Paul Davis, horen we naast invloeden van Neal Morse, jazzy fragmenten en zelfs enkele met oosterse invloeden. Het is echter overwegend mooie symfo wat de klok slaat. Zo doen het walstempo en de klankkleuren in Envy wat denken aan het Luxemburgse No Name en met gasten Alex Micklewright (drums) en Jess Shute (fluit) creëert men een uitermate prettig bandgeluid. De incidentele saxofoon, klarinet en de vocale hulp van Gemma Davis, zorgen voor nog meer afwisseling, terwijl de beide broers zich beijveren op diverse toetseninstrumenten, bas, akoestische en elektrische gitaren. Het met de stem gevormde wah-wah geluid in Scarlet Dance is een knipoog naar Peter Frampton uit lang vervlogen tijden. Woven Wings klinkt eerst nadrukkelijk wat folkachtig door de akoestische gitaar, bas, piano, drums en fluit, terwijl in het middenstuk meer het geluid van de symfo van eind jaren zeventig, beginjaren tachtig is te horen. Ballad Of Night kent wat invloeden van Pink Floyd ten tijde van Wish You Were Here. Sea klinkt ook wat melancholiek Floydiaans met zware toetsenpartijen, een langzaam solerende elektrische gitaar en het ontbreken van slagwerk. Eternity is iets meer uptempo en gaat enigszins richting de frivole sfeer van de meeste synthipopliedjes. Zowel The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Neal Morse als The Eagles zijn terug te horen in Together, een mooie mix van pop en symfonische muziek. Departure is het tiende en laatste nummer op dit prettig klinkende album waarop piano en orkestraties de overhand hebben. De bijgevoegde dvd is een documentaire die vooral bestaat uit opnamesessies, waarbij de opbouw en inkleuring van de muziek goed naar voren komt. 

ENGLISH:

The album Silhouettte Moon is Vienna Circle's follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album White Clouds. The two brothers Paul Davis and Jack Davis live in the UK and have been influenced by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Neal Morse. Together with drummer Alex Micklewright, Paul and Jack recorded this album with a little help from Jess Shute (flute), Patch Morrison (saxophone), Dave Waller (clarinet, saxophone) and Gemma Davis (vocals). Paul is playing the guitars, piano, keyboards and does the lead vocals, whilst brother Jack plays the bass, piano and provides for the backing vocals. The producer of this album was Tom Davenport. The artwork has been done by Paul Davis, the photo's and the film on the bonus DVD were done by Alex Caroll. As the previous album, Paul and Jack release the album by themselves through Audiotreehouse. The opening track on the album is a lovely and quiet beatlesque ballad in the vein of Fool On The Hill with mostly piano and some electric guitar. Envy is a catchy pop tune, a sort of crossover between The Beatles and Neal Morse. It features a nice melodic electric guitar solo by Paul. The waltz tempo sounds great and is not encountered in this genre of music very frequently. Dreams Presage is the epic on the album. It opens with just flutes playing a sweet melody. The same melody subsequently is performed by several layers of keyboard-strings, guitar, bass and drums and the lead instrument is a synth followed by a saxophone. The nicely orchestrated parts remind me a bit of A Day In The Life by the Fab Four. The following section is a gentle piece, melodic and partly acoustic, softly sung by Paul and both music and voice sound a bit like Neal Morse. Then a partly instrumental, more up-tempo piece featuring the electric guitar, sometimes reminiscent of the German band Eloy. The closing section consists of a piece that could have been done by a joint effort of Dire Staits and Camel while the beautiful main theme returns. In that same vein the music flows right through into the next track Scarlet Dance, enriched with some gorgeous sounds of synthesizers. Woven Wings is a mixture of Blackbird by The Beatles and semi-acoustic early works by Spock's Beard. Towards the middle of the song changes into more electric sound and the addition of the flute reminds me of Jethro Tull. The last part is a relaxed symphonic piece, closed off by solo piano. A nice shuffle with accompaniment of piano, percussion and bass is alternated by heavier sound when electric guitar and synth join in and the tempo changes into a kind of rock rhythm. Towards the closing section there's a stunning piece featuring synthesizer in the vein of Welcome To The Machine by Pink Floyd. The same applies to the second half of Sea in which a clear tribute to Pink Floyd can be appreciated: both the guitar and the way the orchestrations sound are proof of this. Eternity is a mid-tempo song that could have been  written in the mid-eighties when synths and disco-like beats were very popular. The guitar makes a huge difference and the beat is not nearly as over the top as in the eighties. Orchestrations are tasteful and delicate. The ballad Together starts off and ends with a piano, vocals and strings. Subsequently there's an occasional guitar and some orchestral sounds. When drums, bass and more keyboards are added, the sound shifts towards melodic rock: think of Wasted Time by The Eagles. Departure is a clear statement of what kind of capabilities the two brothers Davis have. A wonderful mixture of atmospheric rock, movie soundtrack, symphonic music and some influences of folk music.

The DVD consists mostly of footage from the recording sessions and gives a nice insight in how the works progress and how things go in a studio. Listening to the music of Vienna Circle I have this feeling of joy, admiration and enthusiasm of the music lover listening to music he really likes. I'm convinced there's still much more Paul and Jack could achieve with a real band, a top-notch producer, more facilities and proper guidance. All the talents are there and it's amazing what these two have accomplished so far. A step forward compared to White Clouds and a truly nice symphonic and melodic album.