Lycia
Ionia

We continue our exploration into the magical world of Lycia.

After reviewing the monumental "The Burning Circle and then Dust," here I am to describe one of their earlier masterpieces: "Ionia."

"Ionia" was created between 1990 and 1991, following the debut titled "Wake." A debut still full of references to the '80s darkwave and, let's be honest, a rather immature debut, as well as slightly naive. With Ionia, things change. From the old-style darkwave, it shifts to a sound that's hard to categorize. It is gothic, but there is also some shoegaze and very fluid psychedelia. Dreamlike music, the perfect soundtrack for apathetic existences or those lost in hypersomnia. Lyrics that are striking for their fatalism and decay.

The keyboards are the key element in understanding Lycia's music. They create spatial soundscapes to walk on as if on a frozen lake.

The guitars, immature, are heard in the distance in the form of reverberations and simple, as well as stifled, riffs. The percussion, another important aspect, keeps the time like a slow and mournful pendulum.

Everything is rarefied and unreal. It feels like living in a dreamlike and sinister dimension. Time dilates, and sounds disperse in the echo.

An album perhaps not at the level of the aforementioned double or "A Day in The Stark Corner," but certainly the first mature attempt at what Lycia will soon offer us.

Music for the few and, above all, music for those who want to leave this world with the arrival of the early hours of the night. Highly recommended.