Dreamy darkness
Minneapolis based duo, A Whisper In The Noise, have a beautifully lush, cinematic sound, with soaring strings, sweet vocals and brooding atmospherics, but they also manage to inject an intimate and very personal feel, leaving you emotionally drained and vulnerable at times (but in a good way if that seems possible); in fact there are moments on To Forget that are so intensely beautiful that it's almost overwhelming.
The title track has carefully measured glock and strings which build to a shiver inducing blanket of sound, and all the while there's an expectant open humming sound in the background, which makes you imagine rolling landscapes and forces the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck. It's one of the most impressive album openers in ages; the impact is immediate - you can't help but stop and listen and it keeps you spellbound.
So, where do we go from there? It's a hard one to beat, however there are many other great moments to discover, take the drifting, soothing tones of Black Shroud which soon carry you away; the slowcore feel with dreamy vocals and sweetly droning strings in the background is simply lovely. One of the most arresting tracks on the album is Your Hand where a simple but powerful piano refrain brings you in and the violin breaks your heart, here Sonja's vocals are touching, sorrowful, tender.
This is a record that begs to be listened to in one sitting, it's cohesive and well constructed and the mood intensifies when you allow yourself to become lost in their world. The tone is full of loneliness and melancholy, but there is also a spark of magic which seeps into every track and counteracts the darkness. Dreamy, moody and beautiful; recommended for fans of slowcore.