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"The poet is a pretender. (Fernando Pessoa, 1931)
Iuno in Roman mythology was the sister and wife of Jupiter and renowned because of her beauty. In music, Iuno means poetry. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourselves: the poets are back!
Three years after their great debut, Stella and Steven come back with this jewel named "Everything Nothing". The album is complex, it's not something which people who don't know trip-hop will understand 100%. It demands attention, it's an album which was written carefully, with compositions full of small and simple details. Their mood remains dark, darkness is indeed the ambient where Iuno feel comfortable. The instrumentation is rich, taking advantage of different instruments. But Iuno know what they're doing; they don't simply take many loops, many instruments tunes and throw them all into a composition. The idea of minimalism has its influence on Iuno. They don't fill their songs with all they can: they filter it, adding just the necessary. The elements are all there, but they vary along the songs, along the full album.
On the first songs "Everything" (which can be heard on the player of this page) and "Nothing", the atmosphere is dark and slow, counting upon cool loops. Stella, once again, adds a soul to the sounds, and both tracks seem to breathe and live. Both are great..., great songs. The tempo gets faster on the next tracks. "Fracture" presents a breakbeat influence inside an aggressive behaviour. The breaks go on with the next songs, but slowing the tempo, a bit on "Pride" and a bit more on "Seconds". Stella's vocals on this 5th track are superb again, I have to remark. "You and Me" and "Precious" are minimalist tracks, portraying a mysterious atmosphere. The beats are almost absent, appearing about the end of the lenght. Even so, the mood is intense, energetic. "Candle & Needles" brings nice piano tunes, and "Riddlz" nice strings. Once more, Iuno don't over use the elements, they choose some few and settle their creativity on it. "The Ode One In" stretches the feeling of the previous songs (slow and mysterious tunes), preparing the approach of the end. The 'dangerous peace' from before gets broken when "Guts" fades in. This is an aggressive track, developed on a basis of cool nervous beats. To close the album, "Vertigo" enters with its piano and a compact orchestration, being the perfect scenery for Stella's smoky and sweet voice. This is a superb song, finishing a superb album.
I think this is the most important to know of Iuno. They don't simply write songs. They write poetry, with compass, with elements being used on their proper places. They don't over use anything, neither the instrumentation or the vocals. They aim an equilibrium. And that's complex, the final result is complexity. Is it bad? No, in any way. That's the difference when you or me, most of the people, do write a text and when a poet does it. They can say in one opus what we need a whole life to just try to describe. Iuno did it on Everything Nothing: they described beauty.
Can beauty be dispensable in one's life? No. This is an essential album.
album: Everything Nothing artist: Iuno year: 2004 label: AKH Records review by tripofagia november 2004 |