Ghostland - Interview With the Angel (A Really Great Alternative Album 2001)

Session musicians are often thought of as jobbing musicians without any vision of their own. However in , Interview with the Angel, Ghostland prove with their second album that there is often more grace and charm, purity and soul in the anonymous backroom boys than their more famous paymasters. Between the three members they have worked with everyone from Oasis to Bjork, Peter Gabriel to Simply Red yet Interview with the Angel easily holds its own against these competitors. A beautiful, spiritual, haunting and ethereal album it ebbs and flows its way through intelligent pop, New Age atmospherics, Celtic dreams and the sparse symphonics of composers such as Gorecki. While tracks such as "Sacred Touch Of Beauty", "Faith In Love" and "Angel Eyes" (featuring Sinead O'Connor) are relatively conventional pop songs in the vein of Sarah McLachlan or Natalie Imbruglia it's the drifting string pieces like "Calming the Sea" or the cinematic title track, with its Hans Zimmer flourishes that really stand out. The real highlight though is "The Kiss" which combines the aural soundscapes of Enya with the chiming otherworldliness of This Mortal Coil to create a gentle and warm embrace. --William Luff