Anyone else here fans of the Russian duo? I think I'm going to order their new album Lighthouse which is out in a couple of weeks. I have struggled with their music in the past, listening to their previous cd Belighted, I find it all very beautiful yet tuneless at the same time. I cant seem to latch on to any hooks in the melodies - anyone else know what I mean? Having listened to some of the new album though I think I'm going for it...
I'm a huge fan, so in last autumn I did make an interview with Marjana Semkina for progarchives.com: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/fo...asp?TID=104373Originally Posted by Steve983
I hope you will like it if you didn't read it already.
Thanks very much for that interview.
Agreed, the interview was wonderful. It captured a similar feeling to that i felt from conversing with Marjana a few years back via email.
Prog [magazine] are such sweethearts. I received a lovely package with three different issues of the magazine that we're featured in and a box of Green & Black's from the UK today and here's what i found in one of the issues. 3 pages article on Iamthemorning with interview with yours truly & the most pleasant review of Lighthouse. "Life-affirming, beautiful, heavenly - a monumental album". Very pleased.
The article is available digitally, too: http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-03-...-of-melancholy
Kudos to the one and only Jerry Ewing since he is the best & beautiful Natasha Scharf
Lighthouse by iamthemorning
https://iamthemorningband.bandcamp.com/
Released April 1, 2016
Last edited by Svetonio; 04-13-2016 at 01:20 AM.
Count me in.
I really liked Belighted and made a point of buying Lighthouse - over the counter - on day of release. I felt well rewarded for making the effort, as it's a lovely album.
I read about the duo's previous financial blip and felt so sorry for them, so I'm glad that Lighthouse is getting the attention and hopefully redressing that earlier imbalance. If I'm being totally honest, every time I see a photo of Marjana, she always looks so sad and I feel like I want to give her a big hug.
Here's my review of the album which has just been published on another website:
Lighthouse is the third album by Russian musicians Iamthemorning, consisting of Marjana Semkina on vocals and Gleb Kolyadin on pianos and other instruments.
Gleb is a classically trained composer and writes the music while Marjana develops the vocals and lyrical themes. It’s a combination that works well, and I was immediately entranced by the simple yet moving arrangements on their previous album Belighted.
Lighthouse is a continuation of that style, with music that is melancholic in nature, and lyrics themed around the progression of mental illness, inspired by works of Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath. Yet it’s not a miserable album by any stretch.
The twelve pieces of music on Lighthouse are impressively composed and arranged, with beautiful piano melodies and delicate, almost ethereal vocals. I guess a possible comparison might be early Kate Bush, but more in terms of vibe and imagery rather than vocal style or range. Marjana’s voice is more delicate in delivery, almost hesitant in places, as if trying not to overwhelm the listener.
The twelve pieces of music are relatively short, making it an easy listen, but they reveal even more when the album is played as a whole. There is a cyclical theme to Lighthouse, with the penultimate song mirroring the opening song and bring the listener back to the start. However, the due decided that the listener should choose for themselves whether the character’s ending was tragic or redemptive, hence the final track being an instrumental post-scriptum.
The core sound of piano and vocals is filled out with drum and bass contributions from former Porcupine Tree alumni Gavin Harrison and Colin Edwin, along with some tasteful guitar from Vlad Avi. The added instruments bring depth and range to the music but never overwhelm the fragility of singer and piano, and it’s a credit to the production team that they’ve produced a well-mixed sound that makes this album a real pleasure on the ears, especially if you listen to it on headphones.
I’m not sure how much say the duo had in terms of choosing who to mix the album, but the decision to bring in Marcel Van Limbeek has paid off. He’s previously mixed music by Tori Amos, so I’m guessing he has a particular skill in bringing out the best in female vocals with a piano backdrop.
While I found the previous Belighted album enjoyable, it was a bit hit and miss with some tracks resonating strongly and others falling by the wayside, and I ended up cherry-picking songs. Lighthouse on the other hand feels much more like a cohesive album that I want to play from start to finish, and then play it all over again.
I guess that’s a testament to the duo’s growing confidence and experience, as they garner increased attention from a wider, more international audience. Their brief touring experience supporting label-mates Gazpacho seems to helped them immeasurably, and it would be great to see them get another shot with one of Kscope’s heavy hitters because this Lighthouse album deserves a wider audience.
But in the meantime, if you’re reading this, go out and buy this album, and support Iamthemorning – they’ve grafted and suffered to get this far, but see very little financial support. The album is very modestly priced, but you’ll get your money’s worth, your ears will thank you for it, and so will the two musicians trying to make a living from their art.
To be honest, on first reading about them in that Prog Magazine a couple of years ago (in relation to their first album) I instantly got the impression that this was a case of "interview by numbers" due to their base on Wilson's Kscope label, who are apparently granted free passes for reviews, features and general coverage in that 'journal'. It's not as if they otherwise tend to write much on Russian or Eastern European progressive artists, although there's an abundance of names and a long and colourful history there.
Their recent release was OK. Not extraordinary or great or anything very special to my ears, but quite good.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
been meaning to check them out for a long time. anything that references OCEANSiZE endears itself to me at an instant.
I am really enjoying this new album. Calling this Prog is maybe way off the mark but it will appeal to some Prog fans. For me its something a bit different to listen to which is very welcome.
The second part of the title track featuring M Duda had me wondering...it sounds exactly like part of 'A Musing Dream' by The Reasoning from their Dark Angel album, I'd love to know if anyone else has spotted this and its not just my imagination...
My favourite song from Lighthouse:
Interesting interview in this KScope podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gGHxJLE7mE&t=1423s
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