葛生千夏 - The City In The Sea

this album is . . . a masterpiece. it's become a regular (daily) listen for me. it's such a completely magical and majestic album. when i finally heard this album after playing her St. Agnes' Eve EP perhaps too many times (which of course is bullshit; i fully intend to continue to listen to that wonderful, wonderful, wonderful album), it was like a revelation. it was a breath of the purest air.

while the songs on the aforementioned EP are beautiful, there was always something lacking there for me. on The City In The Sea, the songs go beyond the two minute mark, and this gives them room to reach their full potential. i suppose i always thought to myself (about St. Agnes' Eve) that the songs would sound much better if only she had allowed them to breath! and on this album she does just that. in fact, the entire reason this album is so beautiful to me is the way each song builds up to the climax.

the highest point for me would most certainly be the luscious "The City In The Sea §1". the lyrics (taken from an E. A. Poe poem) speak of a watery realm inhabited by the dead, and presided over by Death himself. this song sums up the entire album for me. after a melancholic instrumental interlude, the song really begins, and starts to rise and rise to the beautiful ending of the song. the things this song does to me are indescribable. really, the whole album sounds like an ancient kingdom that has long been lost to the waves.

1. The May Queen
2. Nature Rewards Me
3. A Recent Letter
4. Fairy-Land
5. The City In The Sea §1
6. The City In The Sea §2
7. The Voyage
8. Since I Left You (Sonnet 113)
9. Eldorado
10. Eulalie - A Song
11. 真珠

ENJOY