Claire Voyant

Claire Voyant is a band that has just about everything -- good tunes; a female singer with a sweet, luxuriant voice; textures that are dark without being oppressively gloomy; a great guitarist. The only thing missing from their music is compelling beats, which is why Time Again (which features remixes by various artists of tracks from the band's Time and the Maiden album) may be the best Claire Voyant album there is. Granted, not all of the remixes do more for the tunes in question than make them dancefloor ready -- Francis E. Preve's ho-hum trance mix of "Iolite" is a case in point -- but most of them do bring new and interesting ideas to the original material. Highlights include Front 242's muscular and eerie take on "Eventide," an excellent realization of "Mercy" by cut.rate.box that alternates club beats with a sort of modified trip-hop groove, and a bracing drum'n'bass mix of "Bittersweet" by Love Spirals Downwards. The combination of solid beats with Victoria Lloyd's gorgeous voice and the band's naturally wispy ambience is very satisfying. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide