Even after buying this CD, I kept getting the band's name wrong. I refered to them as Synesthesia, a condition named after the Greek words for mixing the senses - the neurological phenomenon of hearing colors and seeing sounds, most commonly occurring under the influence of psychedelic drugs. It would make sense given the era (1969), but it'd also be a bit kitsch, jumping on the psychedelic bandwagon just as the train is leaving the station. It turns out the band is really called Synanthesia, a meaningless word in English, but one which Greeks will understand as flowering together. It gives off a completely different vibe, hippy-ish but also naturalist and pagan. Paganism and Antiquity seem to be the main source of lyrical inspiration here, with most song titles deriving from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Opener "Minerva" for example is the Roman name for the goddess known to ancient Greeks as Athena, goddess of wisdom to which the ancient city of Athens was dedicated. Interestingly, Athenians' archrivals the Spartans also considered Athena halkioikos to be their city's protector, but to them she was foremost a goddess of war rather than wisdom. Which may speak volumes on the differences between the two dominant cultures of ancient Greece but isn't very enlightening on the album at hand. Musically, "Minerva" is a winsome piece of acoustic acid folk with lots of flute and a driving rhythm led by the bongos. "Peek Strangely and Worried Evening" is a gentle Donovan-esque ballad, while "Morpheus" is a proggier one, with unexpected tempo changes, mystical lyrics and jazzy saxophone. "Trafalgar Square" and "Fates" have this whimsical and weird fairytale quality you find in Incredible String Band records of the time. "Spider and the Fly" sports a rather gloomy theme but it's made lighter by the airy flute intro and solos. "Rolling and Tumbling" isn't the same-named Muddy Waters song, but it is more bluesy and down-to-earth compared to what preceded it. "Mnemosyne" and "Aurora" return to the mythological themes and prog-folk stylings and "Just as the Curtain Finally Falls" closes the original album on a melancholic note. It sounds remarkably like gothic-folk mid-80's artist Paul Roland. This compilation adds bonus track "Shifting Sands", a more pop-oriented song with nice vocal harmonies. Very often, when you listen to a "legendary" obscure album from the 60's, it turns out to be overhyped and overrated just because of its rarity. This is definitively not the case here. The songwriting and playing is excellent throughout and the band combines folk, jazz and classical elements to create a melodic masterpiece that is sure to satisfy friends of English folk, psychedelia and progressive rock. A regular hidden gem!
***** for Minerva
**** for Morpheus, Trafalgar Square, The Tale of the Spider and the Fly, Rolling and Tumbling, Mnemosyne, Aurora, Just as the Curtain Finally Falls, Shifting Sands
*** for Peek Strangely and Worried Evening, Fates, Vesta
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