With a soft piano part and controlled feedback emerging from murky tape hiss on the opening "Against All Odds" -- not the
Phil Collins song, but imagine if -- it's little surprise that on their self-titled debut, French band
Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud are riding a major
Mogwai/
Godspeed You Black Emperor! influence at the start, though guest performer Ashley Rugge's spoken vocals have a more directly integrated feel than the latter band's sample approach. There's an expected focus on the gentle and spacious, where power is implied rather than imposed until something suddenly lets loose -- the soft music box tones on "A Stolen Life" seem to float in a vast space shaped by cymbals and echo until, at once surprisingly and yet expectedly, a huge, triumphant arrangement of stately guitar and drums kicks in, arcing up and out. Calling a song "Motionless" might almost be begging the question initially, but first the calm circular keyboard part and distant floating feedback emerge into the mix -- and then again, the big wallop moment also happens toward the end. The group pulls out all the stops when it comes to the final songs on the album, with "Backward" having the better time of it thanks to a lovely part four minutes in when guitar and piano contrast in tense, gripping detail. (Admittedly, the lengthy silence in the middle could just be for hiding a bonus track, but with a style like this, one can't be sure.) Even the shorter songs such as "Such a Waste" and the string-led "The Sun Is Already Gone" all work in the vein of vastness, controlled power, and elegance, something that is undeniably emotionally affecting and at the same time familiar, perhaps almost too familiar. There are moments when the general flow twists just enough -- an actually mean-sounding growl in the guitars toward the conclusion of "The Leaden Sky" is a great moment -- but
Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud are exploring too well-trodden ground to yet make their own mark. ~ Ned Raggett