Here we have the third, but officially first album of Miriam, an Italian band, released on the young Italian label Decadance Records. They create atmospheric darkwave and ethereal music, with some danceable electronic elements added. “Scents” demonstrates a good balance between electronic sounds and organic instruments like bass and guitar. Miriam is a three-piece band, consisting of Daniela Bruno (vocals, lyrics), Massimo Bandiera (guitar, bass, programming) and Carlo Bucciarelli (keyboards, bass, programming). The voice of Daniela is an important trademark. She sings heavenly sensual and a bit melancholic, but also fragile. On some of the faster songs (like the guitar-driven ‘Unkind’) she seems to lack enough power, while others fit her like a glove.
The first song, the title track, directly creates a lot of atmosphere, with nice guitars and kyeboards. The absolute hit of the album is ‘Evidence’, an extremely catchy song. An uptempo beat, powerful driving basses and nice sensual vocals make this song really dynamic. Other highlights are ‘Always in danger’, with some nice guitar lines, and a lovely flowing ethereal song called ‘Daphne’, with a surprising saxophone.
‘Scents” is certainly a pleasant album to listen to. It is well produced and contains some strong tracks and enough variation. Guitars and synths are nicely combined, and though the music has somewhat of an 80’s feel, it still contains enough modern elements to be contemporary. Not all songs are equally good, some are outstanding while others are just decent, but all in all a positive impression prevails.
On the enhanced cd also a nice and tasteful B & W videoclip of ‘Scents’ is included, as well as a bonus mp3, a nice Cranes-like track called ‘Mimic’.
