This was the fourth album under the L&T banner, with multi-instrumentalist Richard Wileman again joined by singer Lorna Cumberland, with Andy Kittral providing bass. Lorna’s vocals are reminiscent of Kate Bush and Maryen Cairns, and the music is the perfect foil as moods and atmosphere are created with seeming ease. It is this atmospheric interpretation that is the basis of their music: there is no room here for crashing guitars or pounding drums, but rather well thought out material of extremely high quality. Listening again to this album after so many years one thing I find interesting is that there are some non-vocal numbers and passages that show that Richard was already starting to musically spread his wings, which of course would eventually lead to the demise of this band and the commencement of Karda Estra. In fact, “Wired to the Moon” could indeed be a KE number as opposed to L&T with it’s long orchestral filmscape feel.
Much of the album is devoted to providing superb accompaniment to Lorna’s vocals, often with as little intervention and intrusion as possible, letting her really shine. It is an album full of space, depth and complexity, with the guitars often sounding quite frenetic but as they are kept low in the mix they don’t take over. There are definite Hackett-ish qualities to much of this and the result is an album that I have fallen in love with all over again, the best part of twenty years since I first heard it.
www.kardaestra.co.uk
