I recently told a friend of mine about a new CD featuring Bridget Wishart,
and he said "Great! I love Back in the Box." Is that a yoke to bear, or a
pleasure to look back on, I wonder. Either way, after being teased out of her
musical retirement, Bridget appears to have set her own musical agenda, very little
of which could be said to sound like Space Rock. An interesting array of eclectic
and impressive sounds has been the result nonetheless. As part of Omenopus she
contributes vocals, sax and EWI (the funny electric flutey-looking thing)
alongside musicians Lee Potts and John Pierpoint. And a very polished piece of
work it is too.

Their first CD, Time Flies, is as Steve Starfarer points out, not Space Rock; it
doesn't claim to be and is none the worse for not being so. Listening to it
may all have in fact been a dream. Ethereal and fragile, atmospheric and other-
worldly, thanks largely to Bridget and the sparse arrangements. It is music which
would not be out of place if played in a smokey space-station lounge bar, which is
ridiculous as the chances are, smoking is no longer permitted in Space station bars.

The strongest tracks would be Don't Want to Be Here, and Snapshot. I like to play Don't Want to Be Here on my way to work; it kind of sets the mood. It reminds me
very much of late Kate Bush/Ariel era and is as beautiful a song as Bridget has
ever sung, and sung quite beautifully I may add. The disembodied vocal and
stripped-down delicate arrangement work together to create a simple, honest statement which we can all relate to.
Snapshot, featuring Sarah Panton on vocals is a bit of an epic, taking you through various moods and tempo's. I liked where it took me.

Time flies as a whole is unlikley to set your blood racing, it is simply not that kind of CD. What it does do is paint an aural picture of a chilled landscape,
sometimes uplifting, sometimes unsettling, where every once in a while you come across some very interesting characters who tell you a story, and sing you a
beautiful song. What more could you ask?

It's interesting to note that my two favourite tracks from the Portents CD do not feature on Time Flies. Always, which features violin work from the sublime
Mr House, and One by One, which has a particularly effective, simple hook. This means that it's worth getting hold of the Portents CD if you still can.
It also hints at a depth to Omenopus' ability and quality. By the way, I love Back in the Box.




To win a copy of Time Flies and a new Flutatious CD, visit the competition page!
To win an expert opinion, send your CD to the SA office (details in the editorial). Go on.. you know you want to!