Onager - The Blossomed Gates

Hear The Track Here

I've come across Colwyn Bay's Onager a couple of times before through MP3 Unsigned and liked what they did although nothing - as yet - as set me on fire. Having said that I did give them a Recommended for Dark Glass (July 2005) for its edgy electronic feel and it's Numanesque musical references - although missing the essential ingredient, the vocal to go with it. There is an added incentive with this track because it's a spoken word poem by one Abeey Williams, a young lady who has been gathering much attention on that site although I have yet to hear any of her work.

So, let's rectify that right now...

Her contribution to this track is writing the lyrics and then speaking them over the track Onager constructed especially for this purpose. Well, to quote one of the main lines in the track 'I've blossomed beautifully' because it certainly applies to the whole track too. The combination of the poem's meter and delivery and the dramatic flourishes of the musical track is really, really effective. My only quibble, and it is slight, is that sometimes the vocal gets a bit lost in all the musical fireworks going on. So, if I haven't particularly liked anything from Onager before this track solves those problems with an emphatic 'yyyyyeeeessssss' Class work all round, from all parties.

However, special mention of two things: the lyrics (which really should be read as you listen to the tune, and the music. Abeey has an excellent vision, and her lyrics show that she knows how to construct a visual word picture that conveys the subject matter beautifully. Excellent job. The real highspot - for me anyway - is the music. What a breathtaking peice this is. If this had come up as a track on it's own I would have raved about it, it's mixture of drama and musical nous propels it along at breakneck speed. The sounds were very, very cool and the mix understated enough for the full drama of the lyrics and music to work their magic. Yet another collaboration that shows working together can often have ridiculously good results.

Highly Recommended. Class all the way.