There are questions that run through your mind like finding out what electricity actually costs to produce or how Volkswagen can sell more sausages than cars but these are matters of the real world and sometimes you just need something less anchored to reality so, without further ado, it is time to ponder “Like Armour” by Selma Peelen.
It does not take long before you notice that Selma Peelen favours the theatrical and the poetic with these twelve songs straying far from the plastic reinforced predictability of the mainstream to take the listener off instead into a world of stages spotlit in blue and magenta and audiences obscured by cigar smoke and the sparkle of diamonds.
The artistic intent is both consistent over the duration of the album and curiously enchanting as if some, spiritually overpowering, spell of torment has been hidden between the words. If you close your eyes and let the music wash over you then you will likely find yourself transported to another place where the cabaret of the shadows plays in continuous performances.
I suppose the soulless will regard “Like Armour” as an example of artistic pretention yet those who have both ears and heart locked in synchronicity will recognise that this album is actually a jigsaw of human emotion and no computer will ever be able to replicate that.
Best song: The gloriously melancholic “I Know You Now”.
Verdict: Theatrically intense.
Available from Bandcamp and the other usual digital outlets.