Elysian Fields - Dreams That Breathe Your Name (2004)

Describing Elysian Fields is a most elusive endeavor, one that it has taken me nearly two years to get into some semblance of order for the written or spoken word. It's not even that the band is indescribable; it's just that using common musical words around people who listen to common music will never do the band justice. The easiest way to describe Elysian Fields would be to say they're psychedelic beatnik nouveau, but what the hell would that even mean? What would that entail? What would that… sound like? And therein lies the predicament. They could be confused for a trip-hop band in the vein of Portishead, but only if you removed any trace of the "hop" and about 95% of the "trip."

Percussive and sexy, Elysian Fields is comprised of two main contributors: Oren Bloedow and Jennifer Charles, along with off-again-on-again Ed Pastorini. While Charles is the sultry sex vixen of young men's fantasy, with her slinky, seductive vocals and cooler-than-ice, you-can-never-have-me demeanor, Bloedow and Pastorini are the calm, collected kings of cool. Their point-counterpoint nature is best defined in the track "Passing on the Stairs," in which Charles, with her silken mischievous sirencall, and Bloedow, with his deep, smooth barroom drawl, trade words of mystery, desire, and primal need over a sad, doomed, haunting piano, barren, desolate bass, and stirring, creaking violin. It's eerily tranquil and breath-taking, a very touching and disturbing track.

"Passing on the Stairs" is so high in quality that it almost makes Dreams That Breathe Your Name sound like Elysian Fields's best album. For a full-length, it's definitely in the running, but their first EP, a self-titled, is far and away the greatest thing this little band has ever done. Queen of the Meadow weaves the same kind of strangely ravenous and seductive web, but also has a few tracks that are fairly disappointing. Strangely, that album's most inspired track is "Queen of the Meadow," which also features the back-and-forth of Bloedow and Charles. If only the two could duet more often…

In the end, Dreams That Breathe Your Name is another strong Elysian Fields performance, another Elysian Fields album worth owning, but also another Elysian Fields album that makes you wonder when they'll finally put all the pieces together again.

If you need more creepy pop that will keep you on edge and give you chills, Elysian Fields is here for you. Pain, longing, lust, and revenge are themes of the day, held together by powerful poetry and daring musicianship, wrapped tightly in superb songcraft. Elysian Fields may be indescribable, but, then again, so is love.