Occasionally an album appears from nowhere, from hitherto obscure artists, which contains material of such unexpected class that you wonder how they’ve slipped under your radar.
Vienna Circle have created just such an album in Silhouette Moon, some five years after their debut White Clouds. Formed by Wiltshire brothers Paul and Jack Davis, the eternity they’ve taken in sharpening the songs for this album has resulted in 10 tracks of immense beauty and poise.
They may cite Pink Floyd and Dream Theater as influences, but there’s little trace of the latter’s bombast in these brooding, often eloquent, tales. The most striking aspect on Silhouette Moon is the sheer, wonderfully grandiose inclusion of string sections which enhance the tracks. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the fleeting instrumental Sea and Departure, both of which have the aura of film scores. Strangers is similarly entrancing, and Envy is infuriatingly catchy. Sax and flute add yet another layer to an album bulging with tiered melodies.
Let’s hope a wise label snaps them up, because five years would be too long to wait for them to surface again.
