Mercury’s Antennae
Among The Black Trees
Sett Records
They say that good things come to those who wait, but the seven years we’ve been hanging for Mercury’s Antennae’s third album has also brought a weight of expectation. Such a long gap between records rarely bodes well (think Chinese Democracy), therefore I approached ‘Among The Black Trees’ with a certain amount of trepidation. Thankfully, opening track ‘A Sunless Winter Moon’ put any doubts to rest; this is the sound of a band coming into their prime, patiently building soundscapes that reach deep into the listener’s psyche. Cindy Coulter’s bass beats like a heart, Erick r Scheid’s electronica is ice cold and glacial, whilst Dru Allen’s siren call wisps like a sprite through a forest. With the songs loosely connected by themes of love, death, rebirth and reconciliation, this album has a conceptual feel, and subsequently it is best consumed in one sitting to fully appreciate it arc (and the cogs that turn within). The intervening years between records has been used wisely, and with all three members having an equal input have produced an album that is watertight and impervious to flaws. ‘Among The Black Trees’ was worth the wait.
Review by Peter Dennis