CD, CTM, 2009
www.abeautifulcurse.com
“On the other Side” opens the album with an ethereal intro into a playful bass driven melody with filtered guitars whining over the acoustic rhythmic guitar and female vocals gliding with ease between reverberating harmonizations and giddy verse lines. “The Soul Divine” has a sound with roots in the Cure – straight forward drum work meets wispy pads and warm male vocals. Both “The Soul Divine” and “A Lot Like Diamonds” sparkle with catchy key melodies that echo in time with the wah guitar, both tinged with jazz drums and underlying electronics and mixed vocals. In particular, the end to “A Lot Like Diamonds” demands some respect as the synth line closes the song out. Worthy of particular notice is “A Mind of its Own” which features a nice change in the form of spoken word and is permeated with more of a hip hop feel with stuttered samples keeping time with the beat. “This is my House” comes out the gate with a fast harp and synth line and a classic house beat pounding its way through this instrumental anthem – it weaves through thick pads and adds some stuttering percussive samples and fades in and out an atmospheric guitar. “Delicate” is reminiscent of Air with its warm synths and slow swing drums. “Everything’s Changing” has my attention from the first low kick hit – in this track, the drums are well-rounded and swagger through light synths and soothing vocals that crescendo with a wispy low-frequency oscilator addition.
As a whole, “As It Should Be” is very well produced and varies in its influences from song to song, a variance in style which, coupled with the variance between male and female vocals, may draw in a listener or push them away. Though not completely my kind of thing, it has some gems that deserve to be heard.
[8/10]
— James Church