There are few more imaginative exponents of the bass guitar than Rothko's Mark Beazley. Just as on 2002's 'A Continual Search For Origins', the new album sees him team up with vocalist and fellow multi-instrumentalist Caroline Ross (of Delicate AWOL) taking the listener on a melancholy journey through rainy days. Bookended by tracks named 'Traces Of Elements' and 'Elements Of Traces', the places between are filled with well-judged empty spaces and plangent passages of bass and guitar, creating haunting atmospheres. Special moments occur when Ross's voice is set against Beazley's lurching bass guitar such as on the eerie film-noir of 'Even The Blank Leaf' and the fragrant, tinkling piano keys on 'The Northern Lights Are Out' is another standout. But all in all, it's an emotive success as well as an artistic one.
There are few more imaginative exponents of the bass guitar than Rothko's Mark Beazley. Just as on 2002's 'A Continual Search For Origins', the new album sees him team up with vocalist and fellow multi-instrumentalist Caroline Ross (of Delicate AWOL) taking the listener on a melancholy journey through rainy days. Bookended by tracks named 'Traces Of Elements' and 'Elements Of Traces', the places between are filled with well-judged empty spaces and plangent passages of bass and guitar, creating haunting atmospheres. Special moments occur when Ross's voice is set against Beazley's lurching bass guitar such as on the eerie film-noir of 'Even The Blank Leaf' and the fragrant, tinkling piano keys on 'The Northern Lights Are Out' is another standout. But all in all, it's an emotive success as well as an artistic one.
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