The Ars Supernova – Lumina
What can I say about The Ars Supernova and their new album “Lumina”? Well, let’s just say this, some matches are made in heaven, some are made to go straight to hell, and like in the case of “Lumina” some are lukewarm at best. Granted the concept of a blend of rock and soul, with touches of classical here and there seems cool, it ends up feeling like a confused child walking back and forth between two possible paths. Of course the whole album is not a complete letdown as tracks like “Cure,” “Encore,” and “The Gang’s All Here” seem to achieve that complete blend.
“Cure” for example starts out with a very strong guitar intro and them seamlessly slides into singing that is most obviously inspired by Freddie Mercury (One of the best singers in history in my opinion). The chorus starts with soulful lyrics combined with more powerful guitar riffs and ends with the statement “I am the cure,” powerful stuff indeed. The song ends almost magically with soulful singing that seemed to be written for Lenny Kravitz. Yes, I realize that Freddie Mercury came up earlier and I have no way to explain it but the singer seemed to go through some sort of metamorphosis during the song.
Unfortunately the album also contains tracks like “Stolen Nights” which unfortunately are very sub par. Don’t get me wrong the violin and piano are played beautifully and the singing is definitely soulful, but the elements don’t seem to mix well together. I find myself wishing there was less drum playing so that the piano could really shine. And then there is “Voices (Canon In B Minor),” what can I say about this track. Maybe that it sounds like it belongs in an 8-bit video game rather than an LP. Okay, okay that was a little harsh and I can respect the fact that their trying to be innovative but it just comes across as silly to me.
So in conclusion, The Ars Supernova have created an album, which is not horrible but does not deliver what was promised. Sure “Cure” is a great track that shows some promise but let’s just say that they need to go back to the drawing board.
By Wilfredo Reyes
