Posts tagged Alejandro Millan

(Review from seaoftranquility.org)

The power and beauty of Elfonia’s elegant music mostly lies in Alejandro Millan’s keyboard work and the emotive voice of Marcela Bovio. Their sophomore output This Sonic Landscape, however, finds them growing into a more mature band with a heavier focus on songmanship and taking considerable input from their band mates. The drumming of Javier Garagarza is a huge step forward, not to mention the bass and the eloquent guitar work. As a whole, Elfonia has grown and progressed into a more experienced act with a more defined sound and musical approach.

Repeat listens will reveal that the album is very varied in nature. Not just stylistically, but Marcela Bovio has also penned some English lyrics for a couple of songs. The music is very cohesive throughout; but at the same time, the band opts for much-welcome jazz stylings and touches of avant garde. Granted most of the songs vary from slow to mid-tempo pieces, the band will surprise with various shifts of rhythm, mostly rendered through rhythm guitars and drums.

“Desaciertos” is one of these tracks. It has a very slow piano intro but slowly picks up in pace as it borrows some bluesy guitar lines, symphonic elements, and sweeping keyboard arrangements. Huge guitar chords weave themselves into the song delivering fluctuating rhythms for a while, only to be replaced by a sad violin melody played by none other than Marcela Bovio.

From the off-time jazz drums and guitar on “Maquina” to the heavily fusion-inflected “Camaleon”, the songs are coloured with jazz piano and dark guitar riffs. They both feature breakdowns for delicate bass guitar, which is further explored during guitar solos. The arrangement of the bass and the way it is layered over the guitar chords is truly inspiring.

“Letargo” is an instrumental that is built around dark keyboard textures, folky acoustics producing sparse yet effective guitar notes. “Manana” sees them playing a more upbeat cut with classic rock tendencies with a playful solo. The song does end with distinct jazz licks in order to stay true to the general flow of the album though. Pink Floyd similarities could be drawn on “Traveling”, one of the three English-sung tracks featuring a beautiful drum fade-out.

The last three tracks comprise the album’s epic “Gigantes”, a trilogy that breaks the 15-minute mark. A bit different from the individual tracks, this trilogy is punctuated with rich keyboards that build on until the atmospheric apex is reached, where crushing guitars are introduced laying down avante garde sludge-like riffs heavier than a ten-ton hammer. The middle piece, also the longest on the album, simply titled “II”, is Alejandro Millan’s shining moment, not just as a keyboard and concertina expert, but moreso as a songwriter. This track is mostly instrumental save for some very sweet wordless vocal melodies hummed by Marcela towards the end. The song is fed through lush keyboards and vivid drums that become more audible with each beat and speeding the piece up. By the time the song nears its end, we’re experiencing a thick wall of sound with perfect harmony among each instrument. “III” ends with her otherworldly vocals that eventually give way to another forlorn violin piece offering segments of folk music. It is a very beautiful ending to a very beautiful album.

Following the album’s release, the band performed a successful tour in Mexico to promote this new effort, then split in 2006.

Line-up:
- Marcela Bovio / lead vocals, violin
- Alejandro Milan / keyboards, concertina
- Roberto Quintanilla / guitars
- Tpablo Gonzalez / bass
- Javier Garagarza / drums
with
- Arjen Lucassen / guitar solo (6)

Track List:
01. Gigantes IV – 2:21
02. Maquina – 4:02
03. Soundscapes – 5:20
04. Desaciertos – 5:45
05. …De Los Libros Del Tiempo – 5:29
06. Camaleon – 5:22
07. Letargo – 3:22
08. Manana – 5:01
09. Traveling – 3:42
10. Gigantes I – 4:55
11. Gigantes II – 7:03
12. Gigantes III – 4:56

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