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Mau, Melanie & Martin Schnella: Crowdless Sessions

German musicians Melanie Mau and Martin Schnella have been making music for a few years now. I first became familiar with their music upon reviewing their 2018 release Pieces to Remember. They also formed the more progressive project The Flaming Row releasing The Pure Shine in 2019. In 2020 the duo released the CD/DVD set titled Crowdless Sessions, recorded live with no audience present, presumably because of the pandemic. These selections have been reworked acoustically and include a twenty-six minute medley taken from The Pure Shine album.

The disc is divided into two parts, The Abbey Session (recorded in 2020) at Kloster Bursfelde and the TV Session (recorded in 2019) at SWR Mainz.

The Abbey Session begins with “Aim L45”, taken from The Pure Shine disc. A pretty picked acoustic guitar and excellent vocals from both Melanie and Martin. Just a wonderful start to the album, both vocally and instrumentally. Then its on to the “The Pure Shine �" Medley” where the band shines in all facets. Great bass and hand drums, fabulous acoustic guitar with Martin displaying different techniques from picked arpeggios to tapped harmonics. Vocally, their voices meld together beautifully, each complimenting the other, sometimes soaring, sometimes more low key and poignant. The band really cooks at times and even though this is all acoustic the deep bass grooves and robust acoustics give the music added heaviness and proggy twists and turns and awesome instrumental fireworks ups the progressive factor. Another great track is “My Dear Children” where the bass and guitar interplay are simply outstanding.

The TV Session features great moments like the fantastic vocal arrangement and guitar work in “The Spire And The Old Bridge” and the lovely harmonics in “Close To The Heart”.

The DVD features both performances and its nice to see these players in a live setting even though there is no audience. They have great chemistry together and the fun they have on stage is readily apparent. Bonus material includes an interview, in German with subtitles, as well as six music videos. The entire package is professionally well put together.

Crowdless Sessions is an impressive acoustic work, made by a group of outstanding musicians. Its catchy melodies and creative arrangements will have many a fan coming back for more. Highly recommended.

The players:
Melanie Mau (vocals)
Martin Schnella (acoustic guitar, vocals)
Mathias Ruck (vocals)
Lars Lehmann (fretted and fretless bass)
Simon Schröder (percussion)
Fabian Gödecke (percussion)

Track Listing:
CD
1. Aim L45 (Flaming Row) (6:48)
2. The Pure Shine �" Medley (Flaming Row) (26:13)
3. My Dear Children (6:42)
4. Die Zwerge Vom Iberg (4:45)
5. In Dieser Zeit (4:56)
6. The Spire And The Old Bridge (4:55)
7. Treasured Memories (5:55)
8. Close To the Heart (5:19)
9. The Dwarf’s King (5:52)
10. Erinnerungen (5:43)

DVD
Abbey session (2020)
1. Aim L45 (Flaming Row) (6:48)
2. The Pure Shine �" Medley (Flaming Row) (26:13)
3. My Dear Children (6:42)
4. Die Zwerge Vom Iberg (4:45)
5. In Dieser Zeit (4:56)
TV Session (2019)
6. The Spire And The Old Bridge/Treasured Memories (10:55)
7. Close To The Heart (5:19)
8. My Dear Children (6:27)
9. Die Zwerge Vom Iberg/The Dwarf’s King (10:23)
10. Erinnerungen (5:43)
Bonus
1. Interview
2. The Horseshoe (Official Music Video)
3. Erinnerungen (Official Music Video)
4. My Dear Children (Official Music Video)
5. Die Zwerge Vom Iberg (Official Music Video)
6. Close To the Heart (Official Music Video)
7. In Dieser Zeit (Official Music Video)

Added: October 5th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist @ Bandcamp
Hits: 735
Language: english

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