Skymind

They Say...

Review by François Couture, All Music Guide

Taal's second album builds on the strengths of its debut music-wise, but looses itself a bit in the lyrics. Mister Green was built on a loose concept that reflected in the choice of field recordings scattered between the tracks, but few pieces had lyrics. Skymind works the opposite way and develops a complex imagery of skies, gardens, eggs and moons. The lyrics of the opening title track consist of a string of words ("wings night fly iron sun / run head hill green lips" and so on) that enumerate the symbols weaving its meaning, but the sentences that put order to them in the other pieces make little more sense. That said, one can do without the lyrics and focus on the music, a hard-rocking form of progressive with lots of other influences thickening the plot. The heaviness of late King Crimson, a touch of circus music and East-European dances add up to something we can now really call Taal's signature sound. Guitarist Anthony Gabard throws in some mean chops, but keyboardist Sébastien Constant also gets his share of moments to shine (as in "Stratus"). The title track provides the highlight, thanks to a complex but well stitched structure that takes us through the many facets of the group -- including a guest string trio. Flutist Hélène Sonnet sings "Blind Child" with better results than Loic Bernardeau on the other tracks (his voice is rather indistinctive, whispery and mixed low in the mix). "Stratus," also prominently featuring the strings and flute, is the other stand-out cut. Stellar playing, very creative ideas that renew the prog rock genre and excellent production largely make up for some lyric-wise self-indulgement.