Answered Prayers
08/18/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Breathless had me hooked long ago with "Three Times and Waving" and the sublime "Chasing Promises". After scrambling among record bins in the challenging task of slaking my thirst for their older work, I was then left to wait for and more. The early-90's release of "Between Happiness and Heartache" (with a drift into pop-songwriting that was something of a letdown) fed the beast for the moment but it's been a long hard wait for more.Blue Moon is a very different album from previous efforts and beautiful in its particular way. It ventures into much quieter territory without completely forgetting its past. The texture of the music tends toward the atmospheric on nearly every song, sometimes building to a crashing finish ("Magic Lamp") and sometimes leaving us to savor the emotion ("Goodnight"). The restrained guitars, bass and drums atop the keyboards create subtle songs -- expect to keep hearing the songs differently through several listens. On the second disc the band gives rein to the atmospheric tendencies shown on disc 1. It provides two bonus tracks of ambient music in the vein of Cindytalk, and a different side from what you'd normally expect from Breathless. Dreaming keboard washes and guitar notes sustained to disappearance."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1