Blackmore's Night
Village Lanterne

The Blackmore's Night - who are not a duo but a full-fledged band - arrive at their fifth studio release (excluding the live "Past Times With Good Company" and the ballads collection "Beyond The Sunset"), conscious of the regular dedication given to the project since its inception, but also of the fact that they are now followed not only by the faithful admirers of the former Deep Purple guitarist and mastermind of the indispensable Rainbow.

The new band of the guitarist from Weston-super-Mare was born immediately after the reformation of Rainbow (but with the original baptismal name of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow obviously) and right after the release of "Strangers In Us All" (1995). The proposed music is predominantly acoustic, and Candice Night is no longer just the former backing vocalist of "Battle Rages On Tour" or the co-author of the hit single "Ariel", an epitaph to the radiant career of the rainbow, but a fully-fledged musician and lyricist of this new musical creation.

In this work, as in others, it is possible to listen to a musical genre with Renaissance references, which will be a point of attraction and gathering for all those who have made these tranquil sounds a choice of taste intelligently matured in which to feel pleasantly enveloped and calmly protected. An album in which a well-known Fender is taken in hand with more conviction, wielded more than anything else to give cautious strength to the more lively-looking compositions.

The popular Balkan-inspired rhythm of "25 Years" acts as a master of ceremonies for this new discographic chapter, tracing a musical path where the bagpipes guide an inner song and where the calls to oriental sounds complete a track with immediate appeal. The title-track is a true gem, unfolding over a magical intertwining of notes where Madame Candice's surreal interpretation fits perfectly like a diamond in a ring. "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is an inspired example of Renaissance Rock where a contained electric liveliness merges with the development of a melody, where the traditional popular taste is always present. If in "World Of Stone" it's the relentless rhythm of drums and the ascetic call to Joan of Arc that makes the entire track surreal, in my opinion, the fabulous "Faerie Queen" is a perfect combination of dreamy narration and nostalgic musicality that manages to engage pleasantly in an ecstatic and illusory journey through a world that once was. In the realm of covers, it's "St. Teresa" (from the multi-awarded "Relish" of 1995 by Joan Osborne) that will awaken you, just as the re-proposal in a more graceful guise of "Child In Time" will make the glorious past feel less distant. The opportunity to lend an ear to the past years is "Street Of Dreams" (which was also the first single from "Bent Out Of Shape" of 1983 by Rainbow) that in one of the two proposed versions, grants us the luxury of enjoying once again the refined interpretation of Joe Lynn Turner.

Ultimately, an album capable of surpassing the decent "Fires At Midnight" (2001) and "Ghost Of A Rose" (2003) and thus competing with the exemplary debut that sold more than 100,000 copies in Japan; a new and excellent proposal for these new jesters of what is called Renaissance rock, where the guitar of the court musician Ritchie serenely charmes and seduces, in the absence and presence of Candice's admirable and magical voice, which is ever so fitting in the role of enchanting queen.