Album Review: Dead Can Dance, Dionysus

Named after the ancient Greek god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and all things wine-related, Dionysus is the first Dead Can Dance LP in six years. Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard began making music together in Melbourne in 1982, and the intervening decades have seen them move to London and Ireland (Gerrard lived here for a time in the 1990s); fall apart (from 1995 to 2003); and reconvene and release some of the most interesting music in the ambient/new classical sphere. In the process, they became renowned indie label 4AD's highest selling act.
Once lumped in with the goth set, Dead Can Dance certainly had the ethereal sweep of the Cocteau Twins on occasion, but their compositions crossed so many genres, they quickly found an audience comprising everyone from Cure-heads to world music aficionados.

Inspired by the spring and harvest festivals, whose origins stretch back to pagan days, Dionysus is a heady blend of eastern and western musical traditions. Its 36 minutes are spread over two 'Acts', wth the first encompassing three distinct tracks. There's the dramatic swell of upbeat opener 'Sea Borne', which leads into the wonderful swirling strings of 'Liberator Of Minds'. The suite is then concluded by the up-tempo 'Dance Of The Bacchantes', with Gerrard's energetic whoops to the fore.

Act II begins with 'The Mountain', which has the feel of an old Irish air, albeit aligned to an aboriginal drone. Elsewhere, 'Invocation' is a lively chant that gives way to the hypnotic sway of 'The Forest' and the trancelike 'Psychopomp'. As the football crowds used to sing, you're going home in a floating ambience.

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