De/Vision – Fairyland?

If one would have to pinpoit the moment at which DE/Vision took a sudden turn to reach their present thread of evolution it would be after the first uncertain thirtyfive seconds of I Regret. Keths disorted vocals and the gritty synths dissolves any thoughts of Fairyland delivering something almost as disturbingly childish as the artwork would suggest. Instead, in a clever turnabout, it all turns into their darkest effort yet.

As effective as it is, hampering down on the progression with the instrumental Dawn leading into where it all began, the lush but naive dreams of the future brought to the forefront by youth, Sweet Life somewhat off beat begins the circle anew just to let it close with the unshakable premonition of something unpleasantly disturbing illustrated by the sirens of the final cut, Daydreamin’. Of what is caught inside much seem to thread on the more mature and dancier side of things, occasionally trying too hard to get the point across. Such is the case of Harvester, oblivious to its cliché, and the annoying moaning of everything and a little bit more in Today’s Life.

Single contenders such as Bleed Me White and Take Me to the Time efficiently keeps the bulk of their experiences in strong choruses, while Keep Your Dreams Alive throws the theme completely off by shamelessly delving in delight and pure joy.

Such is the heights and lows of Fairyland, almost a concept album of the inherent darkness of life itself. Ultimately it is too unaware of its potential to make something coherent out of it. Mostly a good listen, though.