Music Review // Venus Blake "The Other Side of Midnight" (Count St Germain Records)

https://open.spotify.com/album/0j6nLbZTwMkzJnNVVHFoqn?si=hbWO4lHSQwKYwbAN0Y2v4w&nd=1 //

Upon first listening to "The Other Side of Midnight" what stands out most about this album is perhaps the use of the piano.   Sometimes sad and delicate, other times harsh and crashing, there are more songs on this album than not when Venus Blake simply lets the piano and vocals combo take the lead, though that isn't to say that some songs don't venture beyond that.  Hearing someone sing with just the piano isn't really something a lot of musicians do these days, and I feel like it's because they always want more, but Venus Blake has managed to turn a minimal recipe into quite the cinematic universe.

Right away, the first comparison that can be made is with Evanescence but that just seems somewhat obvious whenever I hear a piano.   There are other obvious piano-based musicians who could be made for reference but I won't get too deep into them (especially that one big name you're probably all thinking of right now)  With melodies the songs can feel like Adele in a mainstream way but they are somewhat dark, sadder and can lead into something like Fiona Apple as well before all is said and done.  The fact that this is a distinct voice with the piano only for the most part shows just how it is creating its own genre.

"Love we Lost" is a song which can remind me of a Disney ballad and that's not the only time that idea comes to mind.  "Here Comes the Flood" has a part of it where I feel like it's a Disney villain singing their story and as such this whole album either tells me that I'm watching too many animated movies which break into song or Venus Blake should be out there creating such visuals to accompany this music.  Oddly, on the last song- "Escape"- there are these acoustic strums which remind me of "The Little Mermaid".

"Here Comes the Flood" is where this album really breaks up because there is percussion and so it's the first song outside of that piano/vocals realm.  But then "The Wanderlust Interlude" is spoken words into a soft piano piece, which to me would be the start of the flip side on a record or cassette.   The next song- "Chocolate Morphine"- comes with with those Phil Collins drums and dark wave vibes with a bit of horror/alien loops as well.  So what is essentially being created here, throughout the album, would perhaps be some form of a soundtrack to an animated film, if Disney were to somehow attempt a version of "Alien" or "Friday the 13th" and, to me, that's pretty cool.