Listen or download from their website
or Jamendo
Their second album, and my favorite release of 2009.
Hahaha, I have the lossless versions of these files that Xera put on their site back when the album first dropped.
Compared to the first album, there's more singing this time around: Four (or five, if Singing Simlish counts) of the nine songs are vocal tracks (compared to two out of ten on the prior album), and a bunch of songs use some ethereal choral samples. There's also more keyboards on this album, with the piano taking the lead in several tracks.
For example, the first track. "L'Anduriña" starts off with an old guy monologuing, then a pleasant piano melody to reel the listener in. The song takes a full minute and 20 seconds before our old pal, the gaita, kicks in. Or rather, kicks you in the face.
Are you wondering about the old guy's monologue? According to the translated version of the music video, L'Anduriña was a ship that wrecked, and the guy is relating how he saved the captain's wife from nearly dying.
So, there's a music video (NSFW, naked people) for "Natura", and now I'm wondering what the heck instrument Flavia is playing. The album credits said she played violin, bandurria, and zanfona on this album, and none of those match what she's playing in the video. This really going to bug me now.
When I listen to "Xilguerín", I see in my mind a dude banging away on a grand piano, and there's sparks exploding out of it with every note.
"Zales" is this album's answer to "Lliendes" from the last album. This song is joy.
"Animes" is unfortunately the weakest track, but it's not a bad song. After the transcendental exhiliration of "Zales" we need something to bring us back to Earth, and this song does the job competently.
Aaaaaah, aaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaaaaa Aaaaaaah, aaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaaaaah.
If you only listen to one song, listen to: "Zales", of course.
That is it for Xera, and now I need a break from weird folk music, so I swear the next album I write about will be some different genre.
