Rather like the proverbial Pavlovian dog, the announcement that Anneke van Giersbergen has new material out sends certain quarters of the musical fraternity into paroxysms of delight. The news that she has decided to join forces with Dutch musical workaholic Arjen Lucassen will have doubtless had the already converted salivating uncontrollably.
The resultant new album, the 22 song strong opus that is The Diary (InsideOut) is a fascinating and diverting experience. Set against a narrative background that concerns itself with two 17th century star crossed lovers who, after fate separates them, communicate to each other through written correspondence, regaling the story of her pregnancy; exotic tales of our male protagonist’s travels; the birth of the couple’s son and the initially unknown, tragic illness of our heroine. It is a classic tale of love lost, romantically bittersweet and entirely apposite for setting to this type of progressive music.
The entire project is delivered in two separate styles: Gentle, a full length and full on concept record, orchestral in scope and delivery and Storm, a more progressive rock experience. You get the same story, set to quite different stylistic soundtracks. Gentle: a combination of folk, Prog and neo-classical is the more superior of the two records; the concept execution is more coherent, the musical narrative more subtle and sweeps the listener along in a diverting but never intrusive manner.
The flip side of Gentle: the appositely named Storm, takes us through the tale of our lovers once more and ups the musical ante. For a record that is meant to be more dynamic and immediate than its Gentle cousin, I found Storm to be oddly flat. There’s the almost de rigeur use of a choir here, the heavy, metal inspired guitar flourishes there, and the soaring vocals well, everywhere.
And herein lies the rub. Finding fault with The Diary is difficult. The musicianship is exemplary, the vocals really quite brilliant and the production truly exceptional. The story, as it goes, is fine, if you want a bit of 17th century Dutch tragedy. There is no doubt that The Diary is impressive; however, I can’t help but feel that I admire it more than I actually love it. I’ve spent time enough to reach a judgement and, whilst I can-and-am impressed by the diversity of instruments utilised, I don’t warm to all of the compositions here as much as I hoped I would.
Whilst there is a certain charm to, for example, ‘Heart of Amsterdam’, the entire edifice depends on whether or not you actually care that deeply about this story and, whilst it’s charming enough, it doesn’t grip, vice-like. As a consequence, nothing here really offends but nothing breaks your heart in the way that you hope or, indeed, in the way that you know Van Giersbergen can with her brilliant, evocative voice.
Some of the melodies whilst structurally sound just don’t sound that memorable to me: it’s all very nice, for sure, and very nicely done, but I didn’t get that hairs standing up on the back of my neck feeling that you always get with true greatness. Regrettably, in evoking the sense of time and place of the story admirably, the music is somehow hamstrung by it as this often sounds like a soundtrack to a television costume drama. Not that there’s anything wrong with a television costume drama, you understand, it’s just not exactly what I reach for when looking for my next listening pleasure.
I know that many people are going to fall over themselves for this record and, fair play to them: each to their own. However, where I had been expecting a progressive storm, I’m left feeling, gently, disappointed.
6.5/10
MAT DAVIES