Julia Marcell – 'Skull Echo' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Cerebral Bliss 2. Infinity Halt 3. Time 4. Nostalgic 5. The Odds 6. Which Way Is Now?

7. Houses Of Glass

8. Understand Me 9. Mother 10. Life Is On Television 11. Skull Echo

OOOOOOH! Itchy Scratchy music. I like!! Let me explain that statement. I like music that makes me uncomfortable, something that makes you sit up and take notice. Amongst friends and family we call it Itchy Scratchy music.

'Skull Echo' takes its time to introduce itself, it’s about 2 minutes into 'Cerebral Bliss', its opening track before a word is sung. Think Tangerine Dream, Mogwai, and 35 Days of Static. At last we have female vocals that don’t sound all breathy and affected.

'Infinity Halt' is a beat led beauty, touches of Aphex Twin in their too. I’ve just googled Julia and it turns out she is originally from Poland which might explain the slightly off inflection which I’m very much enjoying.

'Time', track three has just made me fall in love with the album; I’m reminded of Everything But The Girl although she sounds nothing like! I think 'Skull Echo' has a real chance to be one of those albums that change you. You can’t put your finger on what has changed but you know that nothing will be the same again. I’m probably not describing the album well, but I feel in this case describing how it makes me feel is a better indicator of what you should expect. 'Nostalgic' is the most “poppy” of the album so far, I could easily see this flying high in the charts. I’m a fan of Poppy stuff by the way, it wasn’t meant as a slight. I mean Poppy like Bjork.

The whole album has an otherworld feeling to it, it gives itself room to breathe. It plays with your emotions, it puts you on edge, it gives you a cuddle before pushing you off a great height. I’m running out of ways to tell you just how beautiful this album is. If you like electronic music in any of its forms, from the more accessible Massive Attack to the admittedly niche Merzbow, from Krawftwerk to Public Service Broadcasting you will love this album. You will probably be best off to listen to 'Skull Echo' on your own, preferably loud to get the full impact of its gloriousness.

No surprise then that 'Skull Echo' by Julia Marcell gets a well deserved 5 stars.