The Legendary Lightness - April Hearts

Densely woven guitar songs, served up with a subtle understatement that make them even more hypnotic - this was the speciality of Swiss band The Legendary Lightness and their songwriter, guitar player and recording artist Daniel Hobi. On their third album 'April Hearts', and with two surprising new musicians, The Legendary Lightness have taken a bold leap out of this pigeonhole. Instead of a consistent mood that characterised the first albums, the new songs are like mood snapshots. And they're not afraid to be catchy.The songs were tried out and polished during monthly live performances. This is where they were joined by two new musicians: Sha (bass clarinet, saxophone) and Kaspar Rast (percussion, drums), both of whom otherwise played with Nik B�rtschs Ronin. The effortlessness of Rast's breakneak syncopation give the songs sung by Hobi in his typically laid-back manner an underlying urgency. Sha's horn parts oscillate between watercolour and Jackson Pollock.