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It is probably the case that this amazing second album from Herefordshire-based Mermaid Kiss can be blamed (or, more to the point, gratefully thanked) on the band’s remote location. As the band’s web site tells us, when Jamie Field (guitars and backing vocals) and Evelyn Downing (lead and harmony vocals, flute) were spending long hours in a car travelling to/from gigs and/or the song-writing workshops that they ran, they would break the tedium of the journeys by telling each other stories that eventually became one long tale set in the fantasy world called Etarlis. The story relates the experiences and adventures of Anna and Gerri, two young women from the present day, who unwittingly find themselves stranded in this extraordinary world, exploring the influence the two 21st century girls have on events and the consequences for both them and for Etarlis. The story continued to grow after Evelyn went to university, to the point that it was realised (in summer 2006) that there was more than enough for an album of the same name.
To describe this album as “astonishing” would be an understatement. To say that the band’s debut album (reviewed in Fireworks #14) and subsequent EP ‘Salt On Skin’ could not have prepared us for this magnum opus would, however, be entirely accurate! There are bands that toil for many a long year before producing a conceptual masterpiece of this quality, but messrs Downing and Field along with fellow band members Andrew Garman and Nigel Hooton, plus support from Kate Belcher (vocals) and Wendy Marks (various woodwind instruments) and guest appearances from Troy Donockley (Iona) and Jonathan Edwards (Panic Room, ex Karnataka) have accomplished the unthinkable.
‘Etarlis’ begins mysteriously with a short orchestral piece, ‘Prelude’ and represents the crossing of Anna and Gerri from the Outworld to Etarlis and concludes with the swaggering 10-minute symphonic treat ‘The City Of Clouds (Qway-Lin)’ that ebbs and flows, building from a straightforward introduction through the opening song section into fantastic electric and acoustic guitar passages and on to the concluding theme featuring a fascinating keyboard solo. At the end the track fades (usually a gripe of mine!) but I have a feeling that this story has not yet reached its natural conclusion!
In between these bookends we are treated to an arresting mixture of symphonic and ambient soundscapes and the contrasting vocal styles of Evelyn Downing and Kate Belcher (who was initially heard on the ‘Salt On Skin’ EP). This is a progressive album so we are frequently treated to linear pieces rather than songs with typical verse/chorus structure as the story unfolds with the two girls becoming separated and meeting various Etarlan inhabitants…but I won’t spoil it for you, except to point out that you should note the allegorical nature of some of the songs.
This is an album that those of you with progressive and symphonic leanings should not live without. It is absolutely stunning!
Paul Jerome Smith
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Fireworks Magazine, June 2007