“A Return to Cromley Hall offers both of The Glimmer Room's faces with a Andy Condon always very nostalic and sensitive”
1 A Return to Cromley Hall 21:02 2 Walking with Marie Lairre (Ross Baker Remix) 15:03 3 Walk to the Rectory (10 April 2013) 9:58 Silent Rookery – silentcd07
(E.P. 46:03)
(Ambient Music) Honestly, I've never seen this E.P. from The Glimmer Room pass in front of my ears. I who is an unconditional fan of Andy Condon music!? This is something that I couldn't forgive myself up until now that I also received another The Glimmer Room's mini album; The Locked Book. And it's around 3 years after A Diary of Occurrences that will come this suite about the mysterious house of Cromley Hall. A RETURN TO CROMLAY HALL has seduced me right on the spot with the opening of the moods from the title-track and which has cooled my feelings with 2 soundscapes very thoughtful but also stripped of music and emotion. Steps on the pavement and distant sounds of vehicles on the road decorate the introduction of A Return to Cromley Hall. If Andy Condon absolutely wanted to go away from the very mysterious and melancholic vibes of I Remain on A Diary of Occurrences, the first ringings of notes which pierce the heavy translucent fog of the opening is a return in the lands of Andy Condon's key work. Everything is set here to extend the 9 chapters of I Remain. Keyboard keys where the tone of glass ring with a mesmerizing melancholy, a line of bass which stimulates a wave-like and ambient rhythm as well as layers of mist where violins and celestial voices imprison the ascent of our emotional adrenalin. Simply magical, A Return to Cromley Hall spreads its charms with a dramatic intensity which makes its effect. Listening to it just after the whole of I Remain will give you this impression of an album continuity. Simply great! Walking with Marie Lairre is a remix of We Walked with Marie Lairre done by Ross Baker. We can feel here the distant fragrances of this title which has closed A Diary of Occurrences, in particular at the level of the orchestrations, but it's more of a recording field with sound elements stuck in dark and lugubrious effect of winds and voices. There is always this twinkling melody which seems to be frozen in this decoration a bit surrealist which has all appearances of a soundtrack in order to narrate a story. If one likes the samplings of various noises in a Dark Ambient style, it's the kind of title that will please you undoubtedly. Walk to the Rectory is literally a walking, in real time, towards the presbytery which was recorded with the surrounding noises of it. Even if both ideas are brilliant, they are stripped of music, set apart for some bits stuck in Walking with Marie Lairre. It should be noted that Walk to the Rectory was added later because initially A RETURN TO CROMLAY HALL was an E.P. of 36 minutes. But no matter, this suite to A Diary of Occurrences offers both of The Glimmer Room's faces with a music to capsize you the soul and with experiments which allowed the tenebrous English musician to reach the doors of fame. If you have loved I Remain, you have to hear A Return to Cromley Hall. Sylvain Lupari (July 24th, 2017) ***½**
Available at The Glimmer Room Bandcamp