Love Spirals Downwards
PROJEKT
Ardor

There is really nothing NOT to like here, I but if this album suffers form anything it’s that it has too much of a good thing (re: the For Against album, but to a lesser degree here). Ryan Lum’s scintillating guitar effects seamlessly blend with Suzanne Perry’s high pitched vocals. Each song taken separately, or in twos, reaches for the top of the genre, begging comparisons to Victorialand-era Cocteau Twins (believe me, I’d do away with this tired comparison if I could come up with a better one!). And considered in this way, the album is pretty wonderful. But when taken all at once, it approaches an overdose; a pleasant one, but one that leaves me a little uneasy nonetheless. A little more variety might have helped, but as is, Ardor still succeeds.

8 lilies – Brant

What more can be said about a band which consistently creates some of the most beautiful music out there? With breathtaking, shimmering, hallucinogenic instrumentation and vocals that issue straight from the heart, Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry create equal numbers of textural, nigh-ambient tracks, and stand-alone ether-bliss monuments (the closest they get to singles!). One could very easily list all the powerful similarities to the Cocteau Twins’ Treasure, Echoes in a Shallow Bay, and (most of all) Victorialand — even the mesmerizing, voiceless moments of Dead Can Dance. But make no mistake, Love Spirals Downwards stand alone as a landmark to ethereal and madrigal greatness.

9 lilies — Pat