Turkish vocalist / songwriter Mircan Kaya apparently grew up in a mountain village in the Black Sea Region, singing traditional songs at weddings and ceremonies from an early age, before her later years at university saw her singing and playing guitar in a number of indie-rock bands. While Kaya’ two preceding albums, 2005′ “Kul’ and 2006′ “Sala’ saw her working primarily with traditional Turkish music, this fourth artist album on UCM sees her collaborating with Bristol-based six-piece Limbo (whose ranks include trumpeter Roger Mills and Portishead alumni Jim Barr) for ten tracks that see her singing completely in English for the first time. Opening track “Waif’ almost suggests an ambient / World Music-centred listen ahead, as Kaya’ reverb-heavy vocals soar out from a backdrop of sampled rain and thunder, the beatless and slightly ominous setting providing the perfect counterpoint to her eerie high notes, before the title track injects a sense of Balkan forlorn-ness, complete with weeping violins, piano keys and bass clarinets as Kaya’ folk-tinged lyrics detail the story of a lover passed – indeed, the whole atmosphere generated particularly recalls Dead Can Dance’ re-reading of “I Am Stretched On Your Grave.’
From there, “Tonight I Long For Rest’s sees proceedings getting smokier and more jazz-centred, as muted trumpets and slow brushed snares trace a path beneath Kaya’ vaguely Grace Slick-esque delivery, shortly before slo-core indie guitar chords reminiscent of Low begin to rise up in the mix, while the aptly-titled “Wordless’ sees her layering her vocal textures into an unearthly wall of harmony amidst synthetic ambience, in what’s easily one of the most intriguing moments on offer here. “To Take A Step Without Feet’s represents perhaps this album’ one real miss-step, offering up a flirtation with boogie-woogie piano that feels disturbingly like the sort of thing that might end up on Jools Holland’ TV show, though it’s nicely made up for by the considerably more subtle “Crickets’ Song – Silence In Cxala’, which curiously enough offers up an extended ambient segue completely constructed around the sampled sounds of crickets and rain falling on leaves. While “Numinosum’ sometimes feels a little undecided as to the sort of album it’s trying to be, for this most part its eclecticism results in a consistently interesting listen.
