The opening track 'saturn returned' contains one of my favourite lyrics ever "got a god in my dawg". It all starts ambiently enough, hinting at the range of textures to come and setting the conceptual stage with delicate piano and violin phrases which are swiftly bulldozed away by the chorus of "No more war". And that's just the intro.
Listeners familiar with Sym's acoustic performances may be taken aback by the sudden weight of sound presented to their earholes. It's not fluffy, terrifyingly beautiful acoustic-driven grunge, perhaps. 'Beautiful Wurld' is magnificently huge boasting an unprecedented combination of musical sounds and styles in a coherent whole. Sym has a gorgeous voice, which just gets under your skin and then explodes with a depth of passion, which will move even the most hardened of cynics.

'Amawita Virosa' starts with more soundscaping leading into Sym alone with his acoustic, confessional style once again building on piano structures and violin filigree from Jim Viz and Nick Harrison respectively. 'Area 23' (604K) is dark, slowed down hip hop, wrathful but full of care with eno-esque sonic collisions. Sym's rapid fire lyrical invective on addictive consumerism "You lack security/Love life not money" is worth repeated listening.

and so it continues with 'We who are' introduced with Jim Viz stylophone style on the continental and some impassioned co-vocalising from Emma Harper. This has a blistering ecstatic vocal intensity which reminds me of Jefferson Airplane in places, then swings into Alan Stivell or Crash Test Dummies in others. Why I try to make these comparisons I don't know, this is utterly unique.

'Selkys' (704K) is one of the finest pieces of atmospheric tone painting I have yet heard on disc. Nick Harrison's lilting melodies soar in a wild sky whilst Jim Viz's D whistle dances off the rhythm of Sym's acoustic waves. Then it breaks and we are reintroduced by Craig Mcfarlane's haunting highland pipes to Sym's concise and deeply moving poetry.

Sym elevates the theme of unrequited love to the realm of the gods with 'the frog & the queen', a very novel, almost upside down arrangement, topped off with a rare and most abstract guitar solo from Poc apparently over the phone. Great ending too. In 'loves not' (729K) Sym and Emma proclaim "Love is a wild horse that can never be tamed" chewing up the words to the accompaniment of flutes and synthesised bubblings. "Here we stand as we have stood before/With one hand on our hearts, one hand on the door", goosebumps everytime... and finally, 'Hunab Ku' lopes into earth chant mode jim, but not as we know it. This is heavy organic funk, reassuringly overwhelming.

I give it 123%

sym at home | pix from the studio