WHITE WILLOW – Signal to Noise

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-08-22	progressive rock
	Label
	The Laser's Edge
	Website
	White Willow
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	51:32	LE1046
	Review by	Rating
	Luc Descamps	8,5/10
nederlands	Review
White Willow is a band that doesn’t fear innovations. Singer Sylvia Erichsen who made quite an impression on their former album, has been replaced by Trude Eidtang. Trude has a sensuous style of singing, with quite some air in her voice and she fits very well in this new album. The music is more direct, less dark than it was in Storm Season, but also less impressive. It all tends to be a bit easier, the gothic elements that were ever so present in that album, have now been left aside. The result is an album that will certainly be more accessible to a larger audience. ‘Joyride’ for instance is rather a pop song than progressive rock although it hasn’t got the compact intensity which is needed to hit the charts. But it’s a very nice song with a catchy chorus. The progressive element is reinstalled in ‘The Lingering’ with synthesizers, mellotron and all the inevitable ingredients, creating the mystery which makes White Willow such a special band. They are especially good in creating an atmosphere that is a bit haunting and intriguing, always making you wonder what is going to happen next. Special notice to the Moog Voyager solo on ‘Chrome Dawn’ by guest musician Brynjar Dambo, something we aren’t likely to hear very often these days, wonderfully taken over by the guitar. Listening to this song I should forget, even erase what I said about the accessibility before. This is really progressive art rock and will please a lot of fans of the genre. ‘Dusk City’ is a very versatile song, containing heavy guitars, but also very atmospheric bits accompanied by the woodwinds. Trude ends the song, almost unaccompanied, doing so confirming her influence on this album. The short ending track is very quiet on electric guitar, with eastern influences. Once again, White Willow has released a fine album, though not as impressing as their former.
Musicians
Trude Eidtang (vocals) Lars Fredrik Frøislie (keyboards, electronics) Jacob Holm-Lupo (guitars) Ketil Vestrum Einarsen (woodwinds) Marthe Berger Walthinsen (bass guitar) Aage Moltke Schou (drums, percussion) Guest musicians: Brynjar Dambo (moog voyager)
Tracklist
1. Night Surf 2. Splinters 3. Ghosts 4. Joyride 5. The Lingering 6. The Dark Road 7. Chrome Dawn 8. Dusk City 9. Ararat


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