Search - In the Nursery :: L'Esprit

By the late 1990s, Sheffield, England's In the Nursery were finally getting some soundtrack work for movies and TV. It was a long time coming for a band that had been composing imaginary film scores for most of its career. Obsessed with symphonic structures and such outré instruments as timpani, oboe, synthetic strings, and military snare, twin brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone crafted music for the inner cinema, sounds that coalesced to take the listener on a journey of his or her own imagination. L'Esprit is a perfect example of that spirit. Each song on the disc has an uncanny way of triggering in one's mind a different narrative. Titles like "Azure Wings," "Reverie," and "Scenes of Childhood" are but starting points for the subconscious--the rest is open-ended. French chanteuse Dolores Marguerite C. provides ethereal vocal accompaniment on many of the tracks, to particular effect on the beautiful "Sesudient," and a drummer known only as Q taps out crisp, urgent snare patterns on epic ITN classics like the title track and "Blade." Inspiring, intelligent, and mellifluous, L'Esprit was really the first "mature" ITN album; it remains one of their best. --Steve Landau