Mercury Rev: ‘Snowflake Midnight’

Released with companion album ‘Strange Attractor’ (available for free on the Rev’s website), ‘Snowflake Midnight’ is a cohesive and atmospheric evocation of what it must be like to live inside a crystal. In fact, its inception must have involved the rim of a glass and a finger.

Single ‘Senses On Fire’ is little more than two sentences repeated over oscillating synth and a joyous beat, ‘October Sunshine’ spreads its muted wonder with no accompanying words whatsoever, while ‘People Are So Unpredictable’, on the other hand, sees its sighing backing vocals trampled by dramatic percussion and operatic wails: the sound of Hades, for sure.

Yet, despite the remarkable beauty on display here, one can’t help suspecting pretentiousness pulling all the strings. A glance at the tracklist - containing such dramas as ‘Squirrel And I (Holding On… And Then Letting Go)’ - and it’s a case of chicken and egg (or in this case, Ice Queen and Fabergé): which came first, the titles or the songs?

When one spends the best part of an hour wondering whether that was a bagpipe or a demonic baby’s laugh, that’s either art or self-conscious quirkiness. Rather than answer the question, ‘Snowflake’ chooses to blind us with its dazzle.

Released on 29th September 2008 by V2/Co-Op.

Written by Polis Loizou.