Silence
Key

The Silence are a Slovenian band (currently a duo) that formed in the early Nineties and are still active. The name, admittedly not very original, makes any search arduous, and due to their limited (very limited) success, finding their albums is quite a challenge. In 2006, they collaborated with Laibach on “Volk”, a considerable and ambitious album (which I liked very much); this slightly raises their notoriety and the same year sees the release of “Key”, a double anthology in which the first CD includes the best tracks, while the second features rarities and some unreleased songs.

The music of Silence is sophisticated electronic, sometimes mellifluous, avoiding like the plague fast rhythms, violent percussion, and aggressive sounds. In many of their performances, the group has created very pleasant acoustic shows, traces of which can be found in this collection. In general, the sound is delicate, the rhythms measured but not overly elongated, while the clean voice sings stories of not quite crystalline morality, almost always accompanied by equally sweet and caressing choirs and counterchants. Alongside the use of electronics, Silence sometimes incorporates more traditional instruments like the piano, which make the sound natural in an inspired blend with a synthpop flavor and new wave derivatives (the tuning fork on the cover suggests a harmonic attitude to their music).

The first part of the anthology begins with “La Troia”, whose content is easy to infer, followed by “The Girl of My Best Friend”; these two tracks (taken from “Ma non Troppo”) already perfectly frame the style of Our Team's entire production, appreciated for their melodic vein and well-crafted arrangements, definitely among the best tracks present in “Key”. “Scream Greeneyes” is a bit livelier and prevents drowsiness halfway through the album, while the live performance of the very tender “The Fifth Elephant” is pure poetry that moves. Another track worth mentioning is “Hall of Mirrors” with the distinguished participation of Anne Clark. The second CD, containing gems and rarities, is well-produced and does not at all give the impression of being made up of b-sides. The style fully echoes that of the first part, and among the ten tracks present, I would point out the angry “Puta Royale”, but most notably, I find particularly interesting three extremely different versions of the same track: “Der Untergang” sung in German is a piano ballad, “Les Egoistes”, in French, becomes a little march complete with Parisian accordion, and “The Last Dance”, in English, mirrors popular tunes from across the ocean. All are beautiful.

Although I normally do not care much for collections, this anthology in my opinion is essential to appreciate a group that would otherwise seem soporific (the main flaw attributable to the duo) and that, while maintaining a good standard, does not have a true peak in their discography or a chart hit to boast about.