Lunatic Soul: Under The Fragmented Sky

If you’re thinking that not enough time has passed since Lunatic Soul’s Fractured album for there to already be another all new collection from them, then you’d be correct. And yet, at the same time you’ll be wrong, for when Riverside mainman Mariusz Duda released Fractured, he also alluded to there being a companion piece waiting in the wings full of tracks that the man who is Lunatic Soul felt were too good not to share. So welcome to Under The Fragmented Sky, an album that could be seen as a stop-gap, or the little brother of what came before it. However, in the cold and fragmented light of day, what’s delivered here stands proudly on its own merits and continues the Lunatic Soul legacy in fine style.

“He av en� is an understated instrumental beckoning into the album, an unmistakable air of Vangelis revealed in the patience and repetition of what is a loop of low end atmospheres and the merest suggestion of melody, which appear quite late in the day through grand synth structures. “Trials� introduces vocals, but with clicks and pops bringing an otherworldly feel, if anything the despairing phrase “I try so, I try so, I try so… hard to pretend� offers little release from what is a claustrophobic introduction to this collection. “Untamed�, which comes much later in proceedings, offers acoustic strummings and Duda’s characteristically reserved yet hopeful tones. The feel is different here both in terms of how this piece stacks up against the earlier sung/spoken tracks and indeed the rest of Under The Fragmented Sky, however it is one of its highlights.

The electronic percussion and brash synth strikes of “The Art Of Repairing� are much more in keeping with the rest of what’s on offer, Duda adding layers of vocals, if not many words as his stark landscape is built around him. This piece offers strong links and along with the earlier “He av en� leaves little doubt that what’s on offer was constructed at the same time as the album that came before it. Whereas the title cut is possibly the most straight up example of Lunatic Soul, with even a vaguely Steven Wilson like smoothness coming into play in places.

The short “Sorrow� is one of those beautiful little joining piece that helps push an album along its way, while “Shadows� is every bit as dark and threatening as its name suggests. Whereas “Rinsing The Night� heads us straight back into Vangelis in OST mode, as the loosely oriental shimmers clink and clank off metallic percussion as they paint their moving pictures.

That Under The Fragmented Sky is a collection of songs that didn’t make what Duda classes as one of his solo outfit’s ‘full albums’ says much for the prolific and rather magnificent standard of the material he consistently releases under both this guise and that of his main band. It’s impossible to suggest that this latest release is quite as strong as those ‘main events’ and yet, taken with an open mind, this latest Lunatic Soul is still a hugely impressive collection of work.

Track Listing
1. He av en
2. Trials
3. Sorrow
4. Under The Fragmented Sky
5. Shadows
6. Rinsing The Night
7. The Art Of Repairing
8. Untamed

Added: July 7th 2018
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Under The Fragmented Sky online
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Language: english

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