Ataraxia - 'Saphir' CD
Three years on from Mon Seul Désir (reviewed in the last issue of Judas Kiss) and with a change of percussionists (Riccardo Spaggiari takes over on skin-bashing duties), the Italian neo-medievalists are back with another concept album. This time around, the unifying theme is gardens, and the CD booklet is appropriately festooned with lavishingly beautiful images of foliage. Once again, the ancient Greek poet Sappho is a heavy influence, with a pair of songs, 'Jardin de Lune' and 'De Pourpre et d'Argent', featuring lyrics by her and another two, 'D'Arc et d'Harpe' and 'Blood of Cherries' by vocalist Francesca Nicoli but inspired by Sappho. The lyrics of Saphir are mostly in French and English, with a little Spanish and Italian thrown in for good measure, and the language sung often changes in the course of a song - you need to be a bit of a cunning linguist to keep up! But in fact the language used isn't so important - Francesca's singing is sublime, and would be still if she were just singing 'la-la-la-la-la-la'. Saphir opens with 'Azar', a hot-blooded Latin confection of Spanish guitar and vocals which will appeal to fans of Ô Paradis and the recent Spanish excursions of Allerseelen. 'Outremer' follows, a wistful keyboard-laden ballad in Italian. 'Jardin de Lune' blends classical guitar and subtle percussion with trumpet and Sapphic French vocals. 'The Gentle Sleep' is in English and has lyrics based on an epitaph:

Oh death, where is thy sting?
Oh grave, where is thy victory?

Francesca sings this in a lower key than usual, and I was reminded of Diamanda Galas. 'Rue - Bleue' is in French and features a very Gallic accordion. 'D'Arc et d'Harpe', also in French, is more robust than most of the other tracks, thanks to prominent drumming. 'De Pourpre et d'Argent', another Sapphic ode sung in French, is an elaborate arrangement of orchestral strings and keyboards. 'A Green for Her Voice' is carried along by a sprightly bodhran beat, and sounds a lot more upbeat than most of this generally rather melancholy album. 'Blood of Cherries' is another orchestral piece. 'Of Asphodel' is the tenth and final track, with lyrics taken from the Thousand and One Nights, but this song has nothing of the spicy Middle Eastern feel of 'Jarem Gitti' from Mon Seul Désir, being based on piano and strings. The album closes on a haunting chorus of siren cries - but then there's one of those hidden tracks, a miscalculation in my opinion as the ending of 'Of Asphodel' was such a perfect way to finish. Ataraxia's music is like a delicate spring blossom, too fragile to touch but full of life and potential. I'll be playing Saphir a lot,just as I did with the last album. SC