If
Lisa Germano
, the
Cocteau Twins
,
Julee Cruise
, and
Dead Can Dance
ever collaborated on an album, the results would likely sound quite similar to the second album by San Francisco
dream pop
collective
Amber Asylum
. Leader
Kris Force
dominates the proceedings with her icy soprano vocals and haunting violin work, but these focal points are adrift in a hazy, slowly shifting soundscape of electronic keyboards, heavily processed guitars, minimal drums, and, of course, buckets and buckets of reverb.
Force
was clearly heavily influenced by
This Mortal Coil
's similarly ghostly
It'll End in Tears
, as made obvious by the mournful, elegiac cover of
Buffy Sainte-Marie
's
"Poppies"
-- on which
is a vocal dead ringer for
Elizabeth Fraser
-- which ends the album. (
Ivo Watts-Russell
is probably still kicking himself for not thinking of that one first.) Essential listening for anyone who wore nothing but black for at least one semester of high school, to be sure, but
The Natural Philosophy of Love
is so richly detailed and at times spine-tinglingly pretty that it's not just for recovering goths. ~ Stewart Mason