Isabel

Can 17 Pygmies, a really old, terminally art-damaged band, actually follow-up on the musical and commercial success of their Celestina trilogy by releasing an album of compositions mainly dedicated to exploring the proposition that the geometric nature of flowers provides proof of intelligent design? Conceptually Isabel asks and answers that very question with a resounding, "We're not sure!"

But away from theory and onto the music, Isabel draws on some of the more attractive attributes of it's predecessor CIII: Even Celestina Gets The Blues, namely Prog Psychedelia and Ether-Pop but adds a healthy dose of Spanish Guitar, Trip-hop and interestingly R&B backing vocals to what has already been described a musical blend "warm and yet haunting, it's spacious and yet lush, it's warm and yet melancholy. It's music of contrasts and much like sweet-and-sour, it's delicious."

Influences for Isabel include ELP, "Lamb" era Genesis, Can, Amon Duul II and John Foxx. A little less obvious, but no less important touchstones include Christopher Young (he wrote the theme to "Hellraiser" but you knew that), The 1st Movement of "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" by Henryk Górecki, Segovia and "Venus In Furs" by the Velvet Underground.

As with all Trakwerx releases, great care is put into the overall visual presentation. Isabel is a limited edition hand assembled signed CD elegantly packaged within a tactile, string-art cover stitched on metallic paper.