Message to Bears - Departures

Here's Phil's review for the compact disc......Message To Bears I know sod all about. I remember hearing the last single and thought it was OK but I wasn't particularly taken by it. The new album Departures arrived early this week wrapped up in string and brown paper and I took it upon myself to check it out forthwith as it looked amazing. The 2nd time I heard it I was totally blown away. I had the whole goose pimple bumpy arm thing which I rarely get with new music these days. It's gorgeous acoustic guitar music punctuated by some neo classical beauty. There's some amazing tracks on here.. check out Pretend To Forget though you don't get to hear the strings come in which totally haunt you (the downside with 30 second clips...). It's a beautiful piece of music. Throughout the album there's moments of sheer delight as the guitar and classical instrumentation (albeit produced on a computer) work hand in hand perfectly. Some of the strings and chord progressions veer on the mardy side and remind me a bit of Max Richter at times. It's all very emotive and moving. One or 2 of the tracks sound a wee bit like Tunng with the clicky electronics and acoustic guitar situation. Parts of it remind me of the Harps Old Master album by Phelan Sheppard and I think if you're a fan of that particular thing of lovelyness you'll like this. It's a complete fucking delight if I'm honest and it comes with my complete recommendation. Absolutely fantastic and I implore you to check it out!!