{"product_id":"rhine-gold","title":"Rhine Gold","description":"\"The Third Time\" starts Choir of Young Believers' Rhine Gold with the promising combination of slow keyboard washes and drones and a sudden, sweeping (and not entirely falsetto) vocal, an appropriately momentous start to what feels like a very chilled listening experience -- like what Sigur Rós would sound like if they aimed for a bit of focused clarity. When a melody kicks in, it almost sounds like something from a historical epic from India, continuing to shift into a sweet, string-plucked descending bridge. The fact that \"Patricia's Thirst\" shifts into a post-punk squelch-bass-power pop number of sorts demonstrates how the production is key here, where the elements sound old but the mix and recombination feel agreeably new. While the album starts on a seemingly forbidding or at least dramatic note, what's interesting is how it balances out the reserved with the enveloping; a song like \"Sedated\" may have elements related to the title, but there's a constant buzz of activity, with the lead bass, steady piano in and out, sudden string bursts, and lead vocals carrying everything easily to a sweet chorus. \"Have I Ever Truly Been Here\" ends up taking a calm, epic rock touch based around acoustic elements, thanks to the backing washes introducing space -- Coldplay done right, in essence -- while \"The Wind Is Blowing Needles\" takes a quiet funk turn and the title track ends on a very slow, contemplative note, like the flipside of the opening in that it draws everything to a close, with strings swooping then holding a steady tenseness. Meanwhile, the combination of pure Motorik and snaky bass (not to mention the synth bursts and the singing) on \"Paralyse\" give a further sense of how elegantly they recombine -- especially when they suddenly but perfectly shift into a couple of drumless acoustic guitar\/vocal breaks; at first straightforward, then slightly woozier\/weirder toward the end, and finally moving into a slow final wind-down. ~ Ned Raggett","brand":"InnerSleeve","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45067028299941,"sku":"804297815312","price":35.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/6007\/1077\/files\/f6c293a0b9cee78506399b7209de6622.jpg?v=1778068756","url":"https:\/\/www.innersleeve.com\/products\/rhine-gold","provider":"InnerSleeve","version":"1.0","type":"link"}