Anywhere

The Opiates should appeal to anyone who has a taste for Scott Walker, David Sylvian, Tindersticks or Nick Cave. More importantly, Anywhere isn't dwarfed by such comparisons; rather, in my opinion, it stands proudly with any of them.

The key man here is Thomas Feiner who not only wrote, produced, recorded and mixed the bulk of the album but also played and sang on it as well as co-designing the cover and taking some of the photographs. Don't you just love talent! But there are others involved too, not least the Warsaw Radio Symphony Orchestra who add a monumental string sound to some of the tracks.

This is an album of opaque, moody, love songs, of dark stormy days and sad lonely nights; in short, a compelling and beautiful body of work. There may be little here that would find an easy place on daytime radio, but a song like 'Mesmerent' would surely brighten up anyone's day, with fascinating and captivating multi-layered structure.

Otherworldly music that defeats the attempt to pin it down in words, Anywhere makes its own case with sublime power.