“Acoustic-based emotional flow” is how the Finnish duo Subaudition describe “Light on the Path”, their second album. Their web site provides a very clear definition of their music. I could see (or perhaps feel would be a better word) their stated influences: Tenhi, Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Anathema, The Gathering, Katatonia and classical music, in particular the Estonian composer Arnö Part. As well as the acoustic guitar, we hear the violins, piano, organ and clarinet. It’s all put over in an ambient way. I could feel the claimed “stillness of sea”, less so the “roar of oceans”. The claim that this is the musical equivalent of the mist intoxicating the listener on a spring morning is in my view only partly valid, as it’s not as fresh as that. It is very gloomy and at the start of “Sinne” even nightmarish. I would take issue that parts of this album are epic like Coldplay – I’d never describe Coldplay as epic so I’d always struggle with that analogy anyway –and whilst I wouldn’t myself describe “Wall of Water” as “electrifying”, I find it has a magnetic attraction, in an ambient way of course. I totally got the minimalism of “The Soul unto Aether”, a very skilful track in which there is a lingering air of gloom and sadness.

Comparisons and descriptions apart, is “Light on the Path” any good to listen to? Well, for all its gentleness, it’s not easy listening. Painstaking is a word the band don’t use to describe themselves, but it is that. Apparently it was written over four years. The depth of thought shows. What I very much liked about the album is its sub-structure. Inside the core acoustic sound and vocals, it’s possible to perceive the floaty tones of the organ and piano which add to the emotional feel and overall sensitivity. The vocals reflect the overall mood but aren’t always pleasing. They reminded me in parts of the Lighthouse Family and Elton John but for me the effort to capture the mood at times generated distance rather than familiarity or emotional involvement. A “ghostly play”, indeed.

From past experience the Prophecy label puts out albums which are interesting and innovative in their concept, and this one is no exception. With “Light on the Path”, Subaudition achieve what they set out to do, attain a depth of sound in a deceptively simple setting and generate a series of moods. Gloom is the dominating mood and I found parts of the album quite dreary. When it was good, such as on “The Soul unto Aether” and “Human Abstract”, it was outstanding. “Light on the Path” is not just about the band creating the mood, I think. I sense that the listener has to be in the mood to listen to this deep and at times difficult work.

http://www.myspace.com/subauditionband
http://www.prophecyproductions.de

Andrew Doherty

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