Lunik
Preparing To Leave

Before starting the review, I think it's necessary to give a little background on this group which I believe is unknown to almost everyone. The Lunik are a Swiss group (all members come from Bern and the surrounding areas). The band was formed in 1997, and in 1998 a key member joined, the singer, Jaël (Rahel Krebs; who also collaborated with Delerium and others), whose beautiful voice makes the group's songs unmistakable (she is one of my favorite voices). Before the album I am about to review, they have released four others (Rumor, 1999; Ahead, 2001; Weather, 2003, Life Is On Our Side, 2004). The previous works (especially Rumor and Ahead) were directed towards trip-hop, but starting from Weather, the melodies have been increasingly influenced by pop. The fourth work is a collection of acoustic tracks recorded during a tour.

After describing their history perhaps not so deeply, I can finally start reviewing (oh dear, I don't know if I can call this a review?) the fifth work, "Preparing To Leave". It is a pop album, where occasionally (but not too often) a bit of trip-hop echoes can be heard. The singer, Jaël often wrote all the lyrics with the help of guitarist Luk Zimmermann, most of which speak about love, insecurity, moods (so often introspective lyrics).

The first track is "Life Is All Around", which in my humble opinion is not a track of great importance; the second, "Little Bit" is one of the few cheerful tracks offered in the latest albums, it is a lively and fresh song that one can listen to and re-listen to and... re-listen to. "The Rest Is Silence" and the title track "Preparing To Leave" are good tracks, but they do not particularly stand out as a whole. Then follows "Bad Timing" and "Fall": if at first both may seem a repetition of the previous ones, towards the end they turn out to be much more engaging. "The Game" and "Care" are, in my opinion, equally deserving of the second spot on the podium, they are excellent ballads. Unfortunately, after these tracks, you encounter "Constant Tourist" and "Last Night", songs that I managed to listen to entirely only a few times as they have a sense of already heard. But here it comes, the best song on the album: "Let Go". Words in which you lose yourself surprising yourself, with a melody that accompanies a voice that, in the end, seems almost desperate, suffering. It is probably just my feeling, but following the words, you internalize the emotions of the one singing, and this pushes your fingers to press a button to have to listen to it again to feel those emotions once more. Magnificent. But surprise! Let the record spin for 6 minutes after the end of Let Go and you can listen to a hidden track: Candle.

If I may give an even more personal opinion, this is a good album, relaxing just enough (don't think of starting your journey listening to it). Jaël, sings really well, and unfortunately, it is often her voice alone that holds up the songs, let's say that Lunik is lucky to have such a singer, otherwise the value of the CD would be much lower. Truly a beautiful album, which I am proud to have...