Album Review

The Silk Demise – Midnight Eyes

• 30th Jul 2009

It has been almost 4 years since the music of The Silk Demise has graced my desk. Back then the 8 track self-titled album was a welcome diversion from the British music scene.

Here it is almost like De-Ja-Vu as not a heck of a lot changed on our shores, so another diversion is always welcome. Bill Litshauer has found new female lead in the form of Edie Marshall to take on the vocal work. He’s also almost double his output as this new album as it boasts 14 tracks of dreamy ambience.

This album has more than its fair share of moments. “Heroin Chic” and “Smoke and Mirrors” bring a lot of vibe to the early part of the album; Litshauer demonstrating his potential range from the ambient and pop sensibilities he lives in. The album remains within the electronic realms for its duration, and for the most of it is primarily a ‘chilled’ album. If you prefer something a bit more dance then you’ll have to skip forward to track “Renegade” to see how well Litshauer tackles that world.

There are moments when the music threatens to really let loose and become something that is a lot less refined than the finished product. Litshauer understands his music and his audience perfectly well, but that audience is ever growing, but also evolving, so odd distorted tweak and harder edged sound wouldn’t go amiss. Although it is fair to point out that he ramps up the volume on closing track “Trails” to send listeners off with more of a bang.

Marshall is a more than competent vocalist, but so much so that perhaps it is a bit much sometimes to double up her efforts on certain songs when one vocal layer is more than enough. Perhaps “Mystic” would have been more of a brooding haunted track if one was stripped back.

These minor quibbles aside; Midnight Eyes is a huge step onwards for The Silk Demise, and one that has been due for a while. For something more relaxing and easy to get along with, they are an ideal choice.