Esmerine - If Only A Sweet Surrender To The Nights To Come Be True

It's nice to see classical instruments being subverted into new roles.  Strings and guitars made their way into dance music with stuff like Daft Punk and Out Hud (of course, those instruments were the original dance music, but moving on..), but it's still not very often that you hear an instrument like, say, the cello or marimba being used outside of classical compositions.  Sure, you get strings in Spritualized and stuff like "Eleanor Rigby," but it's music like Esmerine's that really brings these instruments into a modern context.  The primary instrument is the cello, backed by minimal percussion by things like marimba and glockenspiel, and the occasional drum.  Despite this, Esmerine avoids being classified as "chamber music" because, in my opinion, the composition of the songs is nowhere near classical.  I know there are chamber outfits out there that don't just play classical music - Kronos Quartet and Rachel's are two examples - but I think that Esmerine feels more modern, and more relatable to other new music.

The cello is an incredible instrument, really (I wanted to play it when I was little), mainly because it has such a rich tone covering a huge range of notes.  The duo behind Esmerine really know how to milk this range, and your ears will be getting quite a bit of exercise keeping up with the shifting octaves.  Sometimes the sound dips to such a low frequency that I fear for my speakers.  I don't know the album as well as I should, I am sad to say, but I am confident when I say that the second song, "There Were No Footsteps in the Dust Behind Them" is the standout (as well as the "long one").  It is actually much more minimal than the others, consisting mostly of the cello and a soft, wobbly marimba behind it.  The song goes all over the place, but it really is an excellent showcase for the technical ability of the cellist.  The other tracks encompass a number of styles, from the A Silver Mt. Zion-esque wail of "Something" to the mournful, ambient "Sweet Surrender Be True" to the slow-in-coming but furious finale of "The Marvelous Engines of Resistance."

It's a rollercoaster record, but despite the shifting style, Esmerine sticks to the same guns instrument-wise and maintains a recognizable sound throughout.  Therefore, if you don't like the first track, it's not likely that you're going to rave at the fifth or sixth.  I wanted to give you a chunk of the second track, but my editor is being a little punk so you're going to have to make do with the first track.

Here's "Red Fire Farm," by Esmerine.