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The first album by Antimatter, the creation of Duncan Patterson and Mick Moss, was released in 2001. In the album, the two artists appear as multi-instrumentalists, experimenting with guitars, bass, and keyboards, making extensive use of electronics. Moss is also the band's singer, but the vocal section of the record is dominated by the voices of Michelle Richfield and Hayley Windsor. This won't be the last time female voices will be part of Antimatter's albums; on the contrary, they will become a constant presence.
The work has a truly interesting sound, the electronic textures are engaging and moving, the instruments are played without technicality, almost solely to accompany the sound of the keyboards and support their progression throughout the tracks, but this is more than sufficient; in this way, all the instruments indeed unite into a singular collective of sounds that transport the mind elsewhere. The variety of the tracks is pleasantly highlighted; there are songs with sweet atmospheres, others with reflective atmospheres, some almost distressing, tracks where electronics take the lead, and others where it is just a subtle background. Everything follows on homogeneously, carrying the listener in a river of emotions that flows throughout the 47 minutes of the album.
The album is very beautiful as a whole, but two tracks stand out above the average: "Over Your Shoulders" and "The Last Laugh." They are the only tracks where the male and female voices intertwine, and it's precisely this contrast that enhances the emotional intensity of the songs and elevates their level. The foundations are truly excellent and engaging, and the singing sits upon them in a fantastic way. Perhaps the only flaw of the album is precisely the limited use of vocal contrast between Mick, Michelle, and Hayley, which instead results in something truly excellent.
Indeed, a great debut for the Anglo/Irish group, perhaps not the band's best album, but when it comes to Antimatter, even a work that doesn't receive top marks is still of high quality.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Saviour (03:05)
Who hears the voices calling - who calls to rise above them?
Who rises when they've fallen, taking an oath for the trouble they're causing.
Who reaches out for knowing, who knows when they've been chosen?
Who chooses not to burden the path of the brother with light before him.
Saviour...
Who lives a life of slumber, who sleeps upon the water?
Whos water drowns the others, taking an oath for the trouble they're causing.
Who asks a simple question, who knows when who's forgiven?
Who chooses whose redemption?
02 Holocaust (04:19)
Take me with you when you go, I'm not staying here alone,
Push the button by the phone...
Inner freedom overshadows greed and reasons to stick around,
Crazy dreaming keeps me gleaming you'll be seething going down.
I'd waited so long, but the dream was over before it had begun,
I've waited so long, now you haven't time to run...
03 Over Your Shoulder (04:38)
Cautiously take cover in the woodland - no mistakes at all.
Some terrain will catch you at your weakest - careful not to fall.
Stay by the fire, sip from your water, lie in position, the winds blowing colder.
All these conditions will keep you from dying as long as you're looking over your shoulder.
Stay aware of echoes in the moonlight careful not to call.
Don't engage in any kind of dreaming, conscious through it all.
If in doubt find space beside a river, careful not to drown.
Stick it out, there's hope on the horizon - keep from going down.
04 Psalms (03:39)
Poor boy he knows he's alive, he's afraid to learn,
He don't want to get where he's going cos he thinks he's gonna burn,
He can't handle being born in the middle of a big black line,
No matter where he looks, to him it's just either side.
Close your eyes when you feel you're going under,
Close your eyes; you can make the shore this time,
Close your eyes; you can make it through the wild,
... you can make it through the wild.
Poor boy he knows in this life he'll get hunted down,
He don't want to make the transition into meat that feeds the ground,
He can't hack it when his mind paints a picture from an evil eye,
You can't wash the canvas now cos it's full of dye.
05 God Is Coming (05:26)
Judas Judas don't you want me?
Why can't you look me in the eye?
I only tried to get to the other side,
I only tried to survive.
God is coming ...
06 Angelic (04:32)
Angel cried last night; it was something in her dreams,
Carving pictures on her bedroom wall, she wonders what it means,
But gets by inside by saying it's not real,
There's no reason to confuse myself no matter what it seems.
Angel lied last night to amputate her fears,
With no question she exhumes herself from possibilities.
Close your eyes it's fine by saying it's not real,
There's no reason to forgive myself no matter what it seems.
And if I could grow some wings I'd fly away home...
08 The Last Laugh (05:04)
And so you had the last laugh - ha ha ho...
I laughed you off a long time ago.
Your ever changing personality never fails to tickle me at all.
You said you were a white witch,
Reminds me of a movie that you'd seen.
Well can you still open doors with just your mind?
In this little space in time, I've played with better things.
Everything you done...
The games you said you'd won - I still remember all to well.
The foes that fought and lost - the fools that bore your cross - I still
remember all to well.
And it's all a state of mind.
I've seen you crave affection,
Affected minds don't work too evenly.
Well what did you call it when you stabbed me in the back?
And rewrote in retrospect lovers pain.
Where do you find redemption? Tucked away in pre-recorded dreams?
Do you wake each morning wondering when it came?
The experiments in pain no longer here in my world.
09 Going Nowhere (08:33)
Somebody somewhere your life's going nowhere,
Somebody somewhere your heart's growing colder,
Somebody somewhere your game's nearly over,
Somebody somewhere your life...
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