Bel Canto
White-Out Conditions

THE REVIEW

Hailing from a vast and fascinating land like Norway, Bel Canto debuted in 1988 with this wonderful album, worthy of standing alongside the most successful works of Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins. You can already tell that their music evokes ancestral visions, supernatural dreams of distant worlds, embroidered by synthesizers and acoustic instruments, magically in symbiosis with each other. The atmosphere is of great charm, enhanced by the voice of Anneli Marian Drecker, clear and crystalline like spring water. Her ethereal warbles bring to mind the ethnic visions of Enya and the litanies of Dolores O'Riordan, perfectly integrated with the elegant and sophisticated arrangements.
The sound is very engaging, polished yet never overly complex. The idea the group aims to convey is that of purity, clarity, and they succeed splendidly, thanks to folk-electronic inlays of rare expressiveness.

The two singles that open the album, "Blank Sheets" and "Dreaming Girl", immediately showcase their best repertoire, amidst synthetic vibrations, syncopated rhythms, and accordions of yesteryear, echoes of remote civilizations.
The title track bears the stigmata of gloomy visions, with minor guitar chords and thundering melodic counterpoints, creating a solemn madrigal as compelling as few episodes of the genre.
There are also more relaxed moments, like the dense ambient nebula marked by hypnotic chimes of the long "Upland" or the funeral psalm of the somber "Baltic-Ice Braker".
Evocative, folkloric, at times dreamlike and unsettling, calm sky and threatening cloud, "White-Out Conditions" is all of this, as well as an album to own.