Published on Apr 14, 2006
The trio of Chirleison hails from the Mediterranean
island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy, and the sound of their
music is as exotic as the sound of their homeland. A
Whisper, Chirleison’s debut, is an intoxicating concoction of
ancient Italian/Mediterranean neo-folk blended with surrealism and
modern goth-pop with evangelical influences.
Singer Alessia Cicala, who has sung in three
languages — English, French, and Italian — on this album, has
vocals that mix melancholy with hope in a soothingly scary way,
invoking deep musings and a weird sense of positivism into the
depressed and the deceased, and her flute playing provides an extra
touch of mysterious allure to her singing. Guitarist Daniele
Serra’s acoustic six-strings provide the backbone and melody to
every track. Simple and elegant, Serra’s chords are pretty much a
substitute for drums and bass on this record. Keyboardist Mara Lasi
completes the music with her share of gothic ambient backdrop and
effects.
A Whisper is not one of those albums that can be
conventionally put under any genre; its ambiguity demands patience
and a lot of attentive listening. This album is all about subtlety.
The music, though simple, is so deeply interwoven that it takes
some intense listening to decipher and savor its constituting
flavors.
In spite of its melody-driven nature, the disc is not
something that would catch immediate attention. The slow and
brooding music, for instance, has no conventional
drumming/percussion. With the exception of a couple of tracks here
and there, the only discernible percussion present on this album is
in the form of subtle sound effects that blend in with the
atmospherics of the music.
This slow record is like a soothing journey through
bleakness, out of which there always emerges positivism. For
instance, in “Canzone Per Anceo,” the haunting melody and Cicala’s
reassuring singing makes for a combination akin to the Cocteau
Twins’ formula for songs that brings out ray of hope amid a very
gloomy backdrop. The same is the case with the gorgeous “Reveil,”
but with the difference that this time Cicala’s vocals are spookier
and more psychedelic in a Kate Bush-like manner, which makes it
weirdly charming.
A Whisper is a soundtrack for positivism in bleakness.
Listening to it is like experiencing a calm after the storm. Its
mysteriousness is as intriguing as its sublimity, making this album
only for those who care to see beauty in the strange and the
atypical.
[For more information on Chirleison, visit www.chirleison.com]