There's an almost liturgical stateliness about the voices of I Muvrini. Their polyphonic harmonies take the Corsican vocal form and make it into an art form. It's something they've been perfecting over many years and albums, but this might well be the zenith of their style. Slow-moving, the singers let their voices drift over the notes like ships crossing an ocean, with nine voices moving in three different parts, creating an eerie, otherworldly feel through the reverb that's layered on -- although, to be fair, the effect ...
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There's an almost liturgical stateliness about the voices of I Muvrini. Their polyphonic harmonies take the Corsican vocal form and make it into an art form. It's something they've been perfecting over many years and albums, but this might well be the zenith of their style. Slow-moving, the singers let their voices drift over the notes like ships crossing an ocean, with nine voices moving in three different parts, creating an eerie, otherworldly feel through the reverb that's layered on -- although, to be fair, the effect is exactly what the music needs. The mostly traditional pieces have their own beauty, especially "Kyrie" and "Ecco Bella," where the church mood offers tranquility. For the most part, the group sings unaccompanied, which is exactly what it needs; in fact, when instruments do enter, on "Terra" and "Una Antra Matina" (notably both original compositions), they detract from the simple, earthly voices, even though the instruments are used subtly. Get past that, and the rest of the disc will leave you soaring at the potential of the human voice. About the only drawback is the short length -- less than 40 minutes in this day and age barely warrants being called an album. However, measure by quality rather than quantity, and you have something very worthwhile indeed. ~ Chris Nickson, Rovi
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