A L B U M R E V I E W S
A T R O P A
(2018)
(2018)
RnR MAGAZINE
"There is a deeply evocative element to Luna Rossa's music.
'Red Moon' has a breathy seductiveness over its sensuously strutting Latin phrasing...
'Entwined' is the sound of an English Autumn with the smell of moist earth and the first open fire...
I challenge anyone to listen to the summer love song 'Special One' without waking their inner giggling teenager - it simply can't be done!
A record that may just be the duo's best yet".
Review by Oz Hardwick,
March-April 2019 edition
★★★★
'Red Moon' has a breathy seductiveness over its sensuously strutting Latin phrasing...
'Entwined' is the sound of an English Autumn with the smell of moist earth and the first open fire...
I challenge anyone to listen to the summer love song 'Special One' without waking their inner giggling teenager - it simply can't be done!
A record that may just be the duo's best yet".
Review by Oz Hardwick,
March-April 2019 edition
★★★★
PROG MAGAZINE
"A wonder. The finest LUNA ROSSA record to date.
Bittersweet with mystery, darkness, hope and tenderness...
Luminous vocals...
Arrangements that could stop time."
Review by Rachel Mann,
January 2019 edition
Bittersweet with mystery, darkness, hope and tenderness...
Luminous vocals...
Arrangements that could stop time."
Review by Rachel Mann,
January 2019 edition
GETREADYTOROCK
"Sublime vocals... Exquisitely crafted.
Glistens and shimmers like the morning dew on a spider's web'.
Review by Pete Whalley
November 2018
READ FULL REVIEW ONLINE
Glistens and shimmers like the morning dew on a spider's web'.
Review by Pete Whalley
November 2018
READ FULL REVIEW ONLINE
SECRETS & LIES
(2014) |
BACKGROUND Magazine
"Another breathtaking album in their unique and stripped-back Luna Rossa style... incredibly beautiful"
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ECHOES & DUST
"Not rock, not folk, not jazz, but inhabiting a hushed, bruised but wonderful world somewhere in-between, this honest, beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking record is a triumph".
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TREBUCHET Magazine
"Following on from Panic Room's 'INCARNATE' at the beginning of the year,
Helder and Edwards have now delivered two excellent and very different albums in 2014..."
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Helder and Edwards have now delivered two excellent and very different albums in 2014..."
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Dave Ormston
(fan review)
"I am an avowed fan of Panic Room too, but for different reasons than I love Luna Rossa.
Panic Room's songs, even the intimate ones, offer leviathan soundscapes that sweep up and crash down; that roll and thunder then breathe on the cheek. It is BIG music. Think Holst.
By contrast "Sleeping Pills and Lullabies" was a far more intimate, but no less passionate affair, with near transparent production of songs of crystalline beauty. Mendelssohn perhaps. Beguiling.
I had seen excited giggles exchanged between Anne-Marie and Jon on social media as they nurtured this new thing in secret, and I suspected they knew they had something rather special once again. I set aside a Sunday to do nothing but listen to these new songs alone and undisturbed. What a day that was... "
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Panic Room's songs, even the intimate ones, offer leviathan soundscapes that sweep up and crash down; that roll and thunder then breathe on the cheek. It is BIG music. Think Holst.
By contrast "Sleeping Pills and Lullabies" was a far more intimate, but no less passionate affair, with near transparent production of songs of crystalline beauty. Mendelssohn perhaps. Beguiling.
I had seen excited giggles exchanged between Anne-Marie and Jon on social media as they nurtured this new thing in secret, and I suspected they knew they had something rather special once again. I set aside a Sunday to do nothing but listen to these new songs alone and undisturbed. What a day that was... "
(READ MORE...)
SLEEPING PILLS & LULLABIES
(2014)
(2014)
John Tucker Freelance Music Writer
http://www.johntuckeronline.com/
"...the songs themselves – all originals aside from a cover of The Magnetic Fields’ ‘The Book Of Love’ – have almost an unbearable lightness of being, a delicacy and passion from which the performers draw both inspiration and delight. This beguiling fragility is counterbalanced by the depth of emotion conveyed by the two performers, sympathetically supported at times by a small string section. The material is rich in quality and diversity, with the minimalism in backing and overlaid instrumentation often adding to rather than subtracting from their opulence. At times in fact the very sparseness of the arrangements allows Helder’s exquisite and enticing voice to breathe life into songs and send them soaring..."
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PROGRESSION (John Collinge)
“..This is superb midnight fireside fare, eloquently shepherded by Helder's warm, emotive delivery amidst cinematic instrumental atmospheres. The duo's ballad-oriented lyrics are romantic and introspective, made memorable by consistently strong melodic themes. And while the album's title applies in a general sense, subtle changeups beckon focused listening..."
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Dave Cooper
"...Sleeping Pills and Lullabies" doesn't sound like anything so much as itself, occupying a place outside of genre. This is not rock; this is not prog; this is not pop, or folk... it is all of these things, often at the same time. It's the sound of two musicians throwing aside expectations and finding the space to create whatever feels right, taking their music to places they didn't realise existed. Richly emotive, confessional, funny, touching, sad, beautiful, introspective, dark and joyfully optimistic, "Sleeping Pills and Lullabies" is a triumph..."
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MUSICAL DISCOVERIES (Russ Elliott)
www.musicaldiscoveries.com
"...While the album works well as a whole, several tracks stand out over the others. "Scream At The Sky" has an especially great dynamic range that develops through the song's length. While the power of "Fight Or Flight" is created with light percussion, the rich string arrangements and Anne-Marie's soaring vocal parts contribute an airborne component to the mix. The sparseness of the brief track "Cloud" provides a unique insight to Anne-Marie's piano prowess and a close-up of Anne-Marie's British voice. It perfectly serves up the album's final dramatically delivered "Gasp," that will certainly leave listeners longing for more...."
(*****)
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(*****)
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Tim Hall Freelance Music Writer & Blogger
www.kalyr.com
"...It's an extremely varied record; rich and layered in places, sparse and minimalist in others, experimental in some ways yet anchored in melodies that get stuck in your head after just a few listens. This a work that's pointless even to try and pigeonhole, It's not really a rock album as such, certainly not prog-rock in the traditional sense, yet with its elements of classical music and touches of electronica it's progressive in the original meaning of the word. The quality of the songwriting combined with Anne-Marie's ever amazing voice should appeal strongly to Panic Room's existing fans, but I can also see this record having a far wider crossover appeal..."
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Dave Ormston
(fan review)
“...This is not a Panic Room record" ... I chanted this mantra as I prepared to play the songs of Luna Rossa's debut album ‘SLEEPING PILLS & LULLABIES'. With Jon and Anne-Marie involved, and them consisting the heart of Panic Room, it was perhaps natural to ready my ears for 'Room-style cinematic rock, but I wanted to give this new project a listen with my preconceptions switched off. It was soon clear that ‘SLEEPING PILLS & LULLABIES’ is an even more intimate experience than Panic Room..."
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