Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light

Au Revoir Simone

Having loved the initial single (‘Shadows’) from this, Annie, Erika & Heather’s follow-up to 2007′s The Bird Of Music I was eager to see what else was on offer. I’ve not been disappointed either as this is as beguiling a collection of sweetly sung odes as you’re likely to hear anywhere this year.

A dozen lush synth-driven gems await the listener within this package from Au Revoir Simone. Proceedings start slowly but insistently with ‘Another Likely Story’ before the aforementioned single turns up second on the bill. The girls lower the tempo a tad on ‘All Or Nothing’ before managing to go wonkily ethereal on ‘Knight Of Wands’. Church-like keyboard tones colour ‘The Last One’ and belting it out on a pipe organ would I reckon be quite an experience to behold. Adding a full choir might not be a bad idea either. The intimate delivery of the original version though is highly moving.

Old-time carnivals sprung to mind on hearing ‘Trace A Line’, with it’s jaunty air and oompah feel. ‘Only You Can Make You Happy’ once more pushes the ethereal button for the most part but as self-help advice goes it’s pretty compelling. Next up comes what is probably the most minimal song of the twelve, although it’s a pretty close-run thing, ‘Take Me As I Am’, before the drum machine gets switched all the way up for the positively breathless ‘Anywhere You Looked’ – definitely a worthy inclusion on that next iPod exercise playlist.

In closing, then, I’ll say that the final three tracks on the release further add to its overall beauty and you should certainly be winding down of an evening with this album or having it available in some format for those summer picnics with your other half as it’ll set the mood just right.

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