Spoken word by Mark St. John Ellis of Elijah’s Mantle, accompanied on piano by Cristophe Terrettaz (Ozymandias), that is the line-up for this poetic collaboration. All songs are based on poems from the Romantic Era by various English poets: Shelley, Keats, Wordworth, Coleridge and Lord Byron. The nice, warm voice of St. John Ellis and the pleasant piano playing by Terrettaz form a good combination. The piano is never too dominant, the main stress lies on the words.
The poems lead us to exotic places in “Ozymandias” (of course) and “Kubla-Kahn” and into the interior of the protagonists, they tell about life and love, heaven and hell. The lyrics are not printed in the booklet, that is a shame. The photographs of Classical ruins make up for it a bit though. The album lasts for no more than 33 minutes, but on the other hand I think that is enough, because the album is rather minimal, just piano and spoken word. Highlights for me are “Why did I laugh tonight” (Keats) and “Kubla Kahn” (Coleridge), where piano and voice really enforce each other.
[review written in 2000, but lost for a while, found again in 2002]
