IAMTHEMORNING: Lighthouse (PROGRESSIVE ROCK,Atmospheric Rock): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

It seems to be a long-standing habit by now: the Russian duo of iamthemorning (no capital letters and in one word) comes back every two years with a new studio album, "Lighthouse" being the third after "~" (2012) and "Belighted"(2014). The heart of iamthemorning is formed by the pianist Gleb Kolyadin and the singer Marjana Semkina, both of whom like to be surrounded of their records by a lot of collaborators, "Lighthouse" being no exception to the rule.

Gleb and Marjana have not turned their backs on their classical musical training, but on the contrary, they have drawn their strength and originality from it, having managed to free themselves from all academicism to keep only its richness and combine it with more contemporary elements. Thus, alongside a rhythmic section from Porcupine Tree (Gavin Harrison and Colin Edwin), there is a string orchestra and several soloists on wind instruments. But the mix of rock instruments and a classical section is not always enough to create alchemy, the experience being often limited to hearing string layers with simple rocks to give them a seeming classical legitimacy.

Not content with a superficial fusion of genres, iamthemorning succeeds on the contrary in creating an harmonious marriage through compositions that often start as nice pop songs and then move heartlessly into something more unexpected that Gleb Kolyadin's pianistic talents come to enhance with multiple arabesques. Far from overwhelming the listener with inappropriate demonstrations, the artist has the knack of knowing how to be discreet at times so that each of his interventions is transformed into a real source of pleasure. As for Marjana Semkina, her voice sometimes rises in crystalline highs of a great purity which ensure chills, her timbre being situated somewhere between the soothed Kate Bush of "Aerial" and Sonja Kraushofer (Persephone, L'Ame Immortelle).

This complex set leads to short compositions, at the same time attractive from the first listening by their pop-rock tonalities but revealing themselves surprisingly in the end by their progressive and classical attires, the all in a soft and aerial register, even diaphanous and verging on the heavenly ('I Came Before the Water Pt I & 2', 'Sleeping Pills') If the album, being coherent, is of a very good quality, it doesn't avoid some light "turbulences", notably on the most pop parts ('Clear Clearer', the banal 'Matches' saved by its interesting central variation, the languishing 'Lighthouse' which also ends better than it begins thanks to the nice duet between Mariusz Duda (Riverside) and Marjana Semkina). But these brief incidents are not sufficient to spoil the pleasure of the listener fond of delicacy and sensitivity.

Closer to "~" than to "Belighted" by its return to a more classical inspiration and interpretation, "Lighthouse" proves to be more appealing and well-wrought than its two predecessors thanks to elaborated compositions and a convincing performance. - Official website

IAMTHEMORNING

LIGHTHOUSE

KSCOPE

PROGRESSIVE ROCK