▄▄▓▓▀▀▀▀▓▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ██▓¦ ▀█▄▄ ▄█████▀▀▀▓▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀▀█▄▄ ▀███▄▄▄ ▄ ████▀ ▀▓▄ ▄▄▄▄▓▓▓█▀▀▀████████▓▄ ▄▄■▀▀▀ ▀████▓▓▀ ▀██¦ ̦▀▓██████▀▀▀▄▄▄█▀▀▀ ▀█▓▓▄ ▄▓▓▓▓▄ ██¦ ▄▄██▄▄▀███¦ ▀▓▄ ▄▀ ▀▀█▄▄▄▀▀▓▀▀ ▄▄▄ Ì████▄ ̦ ▀▀▓▓▄██ ▄▄██████ ▀█▓███▄▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▄▄▄██████▀ ▄▄██████▄▄ ▄██████ ▀■▄ ▀▀ ▄▄█▄Ì███████¦ ▀▀▀▓████▄▄▄▄▄▄███▓▓████████ ▄██████▀▀███▀▄████▀▀█▄▓ ▄▄▓▓▓▀▀███▓▓██████▄▄ ▀▀▓███▀▀▀ ████████▀▄██████▀ Ì█▓█▓▀▀▄▄████▀ ▄▓▓▓▀▀▄▄▓▓███¦ ▀▀▓▓██████▄ ▄▄█████▄ Ì███████¦Ì██████ Ì▓█▄▄██▀▀▀ ▄████ ███████ ▀▓███████▄Ì██████▓ ███████ ██████¦ ▄▓█▀▀▀ ▄▄▄▄ ▓████¦ Ì██████¦ Ì███████▓¦███████▄ Ì██████ Ì██████▄ ▄▄▓▓███████▄ █████¦ Ì██████¦ Ì███████▀Ì▓███████▄ ██████¦ ▀██████████▀▀▀▀████████▓ ▀████▓▄ Ì██████▓ ▄██████▀ Ì▓████░████▄ Ì██████ ▀▀▀▀ ▄▄ ▀██████▓ ▀███▓▓▄▄████████▄▄█▓▓▓▀▀ ▓▓████¦ ▀█▓▓█▄ ▓█████¦ ▄▄██▀ Ì██████ ▀▀▀█████████▓▓▄▄▄ ▄█▓████¦ ▀████▄Ì██████ ▄▄▄███▀ Ì██████ Ì████████▀███████▓▄▄▄ ▀▀▀██ ▀▀██▓█████¦█████¦ ██████ ▄▄▄███████▀ ▀▀▀████████████▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀▀█▓███▄▀████▄ ▄████▓▓ ▄██▀▀ ▀▀▀▓▓▓▄▄ ▀▀▀▀████████████████▄▄▄ ▀▀▀▓▄▄▀▀█▓▓▄▄▄████▓██▓▓ ▓██¦ ▀▓▄ ▀▀▀█████████████▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄███████▄▒▓███▀▀▀ ▀▓▓▄ Ì██▄ ▄▄██▓▀ ■▄▄ ▀█████████████▓▀▀ ▀▀▀▀██████████▄▄ ▀██▓▄▄ ▄████¦█▓███¦ ▀▓▓▄ Ì████████▀▀ ▒ ▄▄■ ▀▀███████¦ ▄▓▓▓███████████████▀ ▀█████▄▄ Ì██████▓▓▀▀ ░ ▄▄▄▄▓▓▓¦ Ì█████▀ ▀ ▄▓▀▀▀▄▓▀██▓▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀████▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄████▀▀▀ ▀▀▓▄ ▄▓▓▓▀▀ ▄██▀ ▓████▄ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀▀▄▄▄ ███¦ Ì██¦▀▓█▄ ▄▓▓▓▓▀ ▄▄▓▓█▀▀▀▓▀▀████▄▄ ▀▀███▄▄ ████▄ ▄▄██▀ ▀▀▓▄▄ ▄▄▓▓▓▀▀ ▄▄▄▓█▓▀▀░░ ▀▓████▄ ▀████▄ ▀████████▀ ▄▄▄▄ ▀▀▀▄▄████▀▀▄▄▄▄███▓▀▀ ▀████▄ Ì█████ ▄█▓███▓▓▄▓▀▓▀ ▄▄▄▄▄██████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ ▀▄▀██▄▓██▀▀ ▄▓▀▀ ▀████▓▄█▓▓▓███▓█▓▀▀▀ TEAM RNS PRESENTS ▄■ Ì█▄▓██ ▀ ▀██░Ì██▀▀ Ì█▄ ▄██¦ ▄██¦░█¦ ▀ ▄▄ ▀█▄▀██▄▄████¦ARTIST: Lamb Ì████▄███▀▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄██¦ ▀▓▄▀██▄▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▄██▀▄▓▀ Ì██▄ █████▄ Ì█¦Ì███▄ TITLE: Between Darkness And Wonder ▄███¦Ì█¦ ▄█████ ███████▄▄▄▓░ ▓█████ ██████▄░▓▄▄▄███████ ▀█████▓▄▄▄█Ì▓█████¦ LABEL: Mercury Ì█████▓¦█▄▄▄▓█████▀ ▀▀████▀▀▄██████▀ ▀██████▄▀▀████▀▀ ▄▄▀▀ ▄██████▀ RIPPER: Team RNS ▀██████▄ ▄ ▀ ▄██████▀ ▀██████▄ ▄█▓▀ ▄██████▀ ▀██████▄ ██¦ Ì██████¦ Ì██████¦ ▀██▄ Ì██████ 192kbps - Trip-Hop Ì▓█████¦ ▀██▄ ▀█████¦ 0hr 45min total- 66.1mb ██████▀ ▄▄▀▀███▄▄▀▀███▄ ███▓▀▀ █▓ ▀▀██▄ ▀██▄ RELEASE DATE: 2003-11-03 ██▀ ▀▓▄ Ì██¦ Ì██▓▄ RIP DATE: 2003-10-02 ▄██¦ ▀▀▄▄▄▄███▀ ▄▓▓█▓██▄ ▄▄▓▓█▓▓▄ ▀▀▀ ▄█████▀ ▀▀██▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄███████████▄ ▄█████▀▄ ▀▀▀███▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄███████▀▀▀▀ ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ █▄ ▀▀▀▀█████████▀▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì▓█ ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ▄█▓█ Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▄▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ track list ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ ---------- ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ 01 Darkness 5:00 ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ 02 Stronger 3:15 Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ 03 Sugar 3:56 ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ 04 Angelica 3:41 ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ 05 Clouds Clear 4:31 ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ 06 Wonder 5:22 ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ 07 Sun 3:01 Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ 08 Learn 2:12 ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ 09 Please 4:35 ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ 10 That Thing (Open Up) 4:50 ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ 11 Heads And Flowers 5:25 ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ release notes ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ Following its inception in a sqatted Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ bank in Holland nearly two years ago, ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ through a protracted gestation period out ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ in the sticks via some fine tuning in ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ LA, Lamb's latest opus - 'Between ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ Darkness and Wonder' - has finally Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ been born. And my how things have ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ changed since the world of 'What Sound'. ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ When I first visited the farmhouse back ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ In May it seemed contributions from ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ Oddur, Nikolai and Jon were nudging the Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ band towards a more pastoral vibe. ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ Lamb's tricky time signatures had been ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ tamed, the usual creative conflicts ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ tempered and Lou was jokingly Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ referring to their time together as ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ Lambstock. ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ The peace and tranquility lasted about ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ five minutes. When the new tracks were Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ unveiled on their British tour a couple ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ of months later it became apparent there's ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ a new undercurrent rippling through ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ Lamb's musical landscape. ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ Darkness is there brooding in the ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ title, its mood rumbles though most of ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ the material and it turns up time and ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ time again in Lou's lexicon of love. ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ At times her poetry resonates with a ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ longing and sadness so profound it's ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ almost like eavesdropping on a private ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ conversation. When she delivers the ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ line "...nothing you do can seem to Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ break through this darkness smothering ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ you. When it takes hold your heart turns ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ cold/The very soul seeps out of you.." ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ during hyperballad 'Til The Clouds ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ Clear' you just want to put a Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ protective arm around her shoulders. In ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ the past where we've shared perfect ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ moments with 'Lullaby' or fallen in love ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ with 'Gorecki', in 'Stronger' we're in ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ turmoil from the opening line... "I'm Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ so afraid something's been broken ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ now/Too much been said, to wipe it clean ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ somehow..." Yet, ironically, Lou has ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ never sounded so sure and self ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ expressed. Instead of sticking with the Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ Eartha Kitt purr, she swoops and soars, ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ her voice working with great stealth and ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ compassion. ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ This is the sound of Lamb exploring a Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ wild dark spark and through all the ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ painful soul searching a kind of peace ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ and solidarity have emerged. Gone is the ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ tussle between delicate, tremulous ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ vocals and contrary electronics. Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ Instead we get some kind of closure. ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ Falling in love (as confessed to 15,000 ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ people at the Algarve Students festival ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ in Portugal earlier this year) has Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ opened Andy up to the exquisite pain of ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ getting vulnerable, and out of the ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ confusion everything's clicked into ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ place. Whereas once he impatiently ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ chased the bass determined to get Lou Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ out of her head and onto the dancefloor, ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ now he's helping her articulate a swirling ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ mass of emotions. ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ No matter how acute things get there's ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ the core belief, that love really does Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ conquer all, holding everything ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ together. As we emerge out of the ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ darkness and through to 'Wonder' Lou ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ muses ..."Don't know if God exists/But ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ there's some magic out there'" whilst Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ in 'Open up' she considers the 'true ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ possibility that we're all one". Yet even ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ in the lighter moments there's an ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ intensity that grabs you by the ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ earlobes and commands your full Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ attention. It's like there's no time ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ but present time. We need to feel ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ passion and give unconditional love and ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ access the magic in the everyday and we ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ have to do it now. Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ By the time the peaks and troughs of ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ 'Sugar 5' are over you're left reeling ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ round the speakers. The only time Lamb ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ veer away from their intent - 'Sun' Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ never quite captures the glory of its ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ live rendition - you're immediately ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ wishing you were back in the thick of ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ things. ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄▄███▀ ▀████▄▄▄▄███████▀ And '..Darkness..' sounds so good. The ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀███▀▄█████▀ production revels in the warmth and detail ▀█████▄ ▄█████▀ ▀▄▄ of the songs which are lush with ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ harmonies, angelic orchestrations and a ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ sound so intimate that at times I Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ swear you can hear the wind rustle ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ through Lou's vocal chords. Genius ▀█████████ ▀▀██▄ samples such as the scratchy musical box ▄██▀▀███ ▀ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ Ì██▓ which stutters through 'Please' and a ▓██¦ ████▄ ▄█¦ ▀ ▀▀███▄ ▄▓▓█▓¦ charming piano loop liberated from what Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀███████▀ Ì███¦▄█████▀ sounds like Debussy's 'Claire de Lune' ▀█████▄ ▀▀▀ ▄ ▄███▄█████▀ for instrumental 'Angelica', weave a ▀█████▄ ▀▀███▀██████▀ ▀▄▄ romantic streak through the fabric of ▄▄▀ ▀█████▄ Ì█████ Ì█▓ their music lending it a timeless, ▓█¦ █████¦ █████¦ ███¦ dreamy quality. Ì███ Ì█████ ▀█████▄ ▓██▓ ▓██▓ ▄█████▀ ▀▀███████▀ 'Between Darkness and Wonder' marks a ▀███████▀▓▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▀▀██▄ loss of innocence and a fall from grace, ▄██▀▀■ ▀████▄ ▄████▀▀▀▄ Ì██▓ but having weathered the storm Lamb have ▓██¦ ̦ Ì████ Ì████¦ ▄▄▓▓█▓¦ grown in confidence and grandeur. This Ì▓█▓▓▄ ▀█▄▄&