Berlin Strings - On a Dark Night

A Closer Listen

Our sharpest readers may remember the enchanting Toechter, whose debut album we reviewed last year.  On a Dark Night might be considered a sequel, in that the cover art shares the same design format and Lisa Marie Vogel is found on both albums.  In Toechter, she was part of a string trio; in Berlin Strings, she’s part of a quartet.  Yet each work is a debut.  An additional selling point for On a Dark Night is the presence of different collaborators on each track, keeping the variety high.

The set leads off with “About Glow and Soaring,” recorded with Ralph Heidel.  As befits the album’s title, the track has a dark undercurrent.  Thick and immersive, it dives in on the deep end and stays there until the end.  Surprisingly, it’s not Heidel (known for his electronic leanings) but Dascha Dauenhauer who brings the LP’s first beats ~ another influence found in Toechter’s cross-genre work.  But they don’t last through the entire track; the strings take the floor in the moody middle, after which the music turns processional, even regal.  To complicate matters, after the first piece the LP and digital track orders diverge, producing different listening experiences; and there’s a nine-minute bonus track (“Phases”) found only on the digital version and placed in the exact center.

“Night Ride Under Ground (w/Gunter Papperitz)” is one of the strongest tracks, featuring glissando and staccato strings.  On the LP, it leads off the second half in definitive fashion; we recommend as the third single.  For crossover purposes, the quartet may choose one of the two vocal tracks ~ one spoken, one sung ~ “What Brings You Down (feat. Ella Zweitnig)” having the best shot.  But as both Toechter and Berlin Strings have proven, they are willing to nod to the mainstream without being beholden to it.  Instead, they follow their own muses, and are better as a result.  (Richard Allen)