New Tunes :: [Rosebud] by Winona

Every-so-often something comes along that is just right. For music its a sense that this is the sound of now >> something special and perfect for today.

I don't want to hype this up... but I have been a fan of Craig Armstrong for a long time... ever since I heard his work on Protection - Massive Attack's fantastic second album. His solo work is truly imaginative... a sweet blend of electronica and classical strings... with some superb vocalists adding their special magic... including Bono whose collab on Stay (far away, so close) is IMHO better than the original U2 version.

Armstrong's latest project is called Winona and is a collaborative project with Scott Fraser. According to the blurb...

They dusted off their eye-watering collection of vintage synthesizers and set about creating glacial European pop / electro music in 2006.

They would convene every Friday afternoon in an airy recording studio in Glasgow. Within months, an album of beautifully bruised and unashamedly confused songs emerged. Themes of fear, self-doubt, denial, surveillance, elation, unconditional love and unquestioning devotion emerged. Flawed but defiantly fantastic, Winona came to life.

Having met French actress Laurence Ashley on the set of Luc Besson’s ‘Kiss Of The Dragon’, Armstrong asked whether she would like to contribute to the project. Her sensual spoken-word interludes, melting into the honey-through-velvet voice of singer Lucy Pullin, seamlessly sealed the Winona sound.

Their work is a body of breathtaking electropop goodness with the kind of dazzling keyboard work that instantly attracted me to Armstrong's work.

Lucy Pullin's vocals are excellent... very fitting and in character with the retro-futuristic soundscapes. A sound complemented with the seductive French of Laurence Ashley.

I won't pick out any one song as being better than the others... it has the old-fashioned vibe of an album... one that you listen to the whole of... rather than individual singles. One that is consistently great.

Well recommended. Now... I need to see them perform live.