The English duo Turin Brakes was founded in 1999 by school friends Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian. They made their debut in 2001 with the successful album The Optimist LP. The music on that CD was best described as 'modern urban folk' with beautiful, polyphonic vocals. Because the acoustic guitar plays a prominent role in their songs, they were domestically assigned to the New Acoustic Movement
… (Kings Of Convenience, I Am Kloot, Tom McRae). Two years later, however, you heard no one more about this so-called movement and the CDs that Tom McRae and Erlend Øye (Kings Of Convenience) released in early 2003 sounded anything but acoustic. In that respect, Turin Brakes' Ether Song is the exception that proves the rule. They did stick with the sound of their debut album. And so we hear twelve new, acoustic folk songs that are again sung in polyphony and with the characteristic English accent. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but a little more variation would have been welcome this time. After the strong single Pain Killer (Summer Rain) has passed, the album goes out like the proverbial candle. Too bad ... (MvP)more
