It starts out like the opening scene from Donnie Darko, where the breaking of the dawn leaves the mountain scenery a calming experience, albeit slightly haunting. There is an underlying feeling that peace and happiness is not the central theme of this experience but turmoil and turbulence is not either. The Choir of Young Believers create this balance between natural beauty and lonely realization much like what goes on in Steve Kilbey’s mind.

Minimal piano gives Danish singer/songwriter Jannis Noya Makrigiannis a palette to paint an impressionistic introduction, filling you with wondrous anticipation. By the time the band tires of subtle accents, they blow the cover like a Sergio Leone film, using sound as depth and a musical landscape that is wide open. It’s a beautiful composition that sets the stage for a mix-and-match album that has This Is For The White In Your Eyes burning both hot and cold.

Moving on, “Next Summer” is more of the same with the elongated introduction, but slightly askewed when they keep the dynamics down to simple pop orchestral movements.

“Action/Reaction” is a hip, new take on an old pop-rock structure that is filled with ‘90s alterna-pop big hooks. It serves as a lush and powerful standout track even though it doesn’t really even fit in with the rest of the album, which makes the transition into “Under The Moon” hard to swallow.

Then there are several songs that would be better served as transition pieces (“Wintertime Love” and “Claustrophobia”) than full-length songs that feel stretched out and wear on the listener. And it’s not that Makrigiannis has to be on all of the time, his exploratory compositions are a growing attribute often times make up for the length and fits in wonderfully with his ideology of the music.

And the finale of the album, “Yamagata,” feel as captivating as the beginning with a loop of piano chords fading out the album into what feels like mystic folklore.

Choir Of Young Believers