Snowapple
Album: Illusion
Label: Zip/Debt
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.snowapple.nl/

Dutch folk band Snowapple release their second album 'Illusion', pre-empting their U.K, USA and Far East tour.

Multi-instrumentalists Laurien, Laura and Una have yet again produced a surreal giddy escapade of musical tuning. Almost like the boat journey in Charlie and the chocolate factory: whimsical, yet stark. Opera notations and influences allow this sugar-candied suite to take more substantial grounding, this is especially effective in 'California'.

Snow apple say the voices and hypnotic sounds should "transport you to another world, a dream woven of illusions." Illusion presents the longing to abandon reality for a brief moment.

Although hypnotic fairy-tale harmonies are certainly the heart of the album, (Sleep and Small Stones) tracks such as 'California, Wolves, Vagabond and Evil Wizard' provide subtle asides of jazz, opera and electronica hinting at darker feelings of lust and jealousy.

Perhaps these are the glimpses of reality Snowapple wants you to escape from. Illusion, the title track provides this swift transition where the latter half of the track notifies the listener to this illusion in a ghostly and haunting way.

Snowapple successfully achieve their musical explanation mark of tension and suspense, lapsing away from merely dream like melodies in places by bringing together three very different musical backgrounds merged together to sing as one.

Snowapple lapse away from merely a collection of dreamy melodies and successfully achieve their musical explanation mark of narrative tension and suspense by the emergence of three very different musical and vocal backgrounds eloquently singing as one.

Fans of 'Feist, Cat Power, Laura Veirs and the early sounds of 'The Pierces' may revel in Snowapple's music.

Leah Parker-Turnock