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Of Cabbages and Kings: Aura
ByIt's in a beautifully arranged rendition of "Overcome" by British singer-songwriter Laura Mvula that the quartet's spiritual recasting of our postmodern world is introduced. Here we encounter a landscape grazed by hands that feel decades older than they are. Such is the timeless effect of their voices. Relationships (and transcendence of them) are upheld as the album's perennial theme, finding harmonic honesty in "Do Not as I Do" and the brilliant "Am I Still Facing Love." The latter shows us what happens when we fall into rhythms that are too comfortable, and the possibility of that which once overtook the self now running aground on the shores of faded romance. Further highlights in this regard include a jazzier take on Shakespeare's sonnet "My Love is as a Fever" and the spoken polyphony of "Lust." In each, the singers unpack a weathered rhythmic suitcase and rearrange its contents in a unique way.
Most remarkable about OCAK is their sense of dynamics, which always serves the texts and allows for a chameleonic breath to flow. Thus, they achieve a remarkable contradiction in their art by creating from four distinct voices a collective fifth. Like the chains of "Am Morgen Dann" and "Rezept," they hold integrity by means of unexpected links, all the while keeping us in their rearview mirror.
Track Listing
Overcome; M; My Love is as a Fever; The Song; Letter No. 2; An Morgen Dann; Am I Still Facing Love; Love; Lust; Do Not as I Do; Rezept.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Aura | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Klaeng Records
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About Veronika Anna Morscher
Instrument: Vocals
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