Society of Imaginary Friends

Sadness is a Bridge to Love is an amazing album. Not just for its wonderfully orchestrated music and incredibly rich, vibrant vocals but for the sense it gives of being taken away to a magical new realm. It's strangely reminiscent of lying on the floor listening to early Pink Floyd albums whilst under the influence of nothing but the spare time on your hands. This dreamlike soundscape, which begins with a stroll out on the The Moors, is not left to wallow in its own invention however, and Louise Kleboe beautifully blends the cool of Patricia Kass with the soul of Patty Cathcart to impart an operatic sensation that's at once unnerving yet inviting in its majesty.
I'm sure Odysseus endured a similar right of passage strapped to the mast of his mythic vessel, desperate to fall for the Sirens' song, yet aware it would destroy him if he did. Armed with such fundamental tools of folk music as violins and accordion, Society Of Imaginary Friends take the creative collaboration between Kleboe, Alfie Thomas and Chris Brierly to a fantastical conclusion and call at all stops along the way. For Those Online is a soaring anthem to delight the dedicated social networker of the digital age. The gentle piano accompaniment of Going Home gives way to the exceptionally evocative Night of Power and strident strings of Easy Way, whilst Flower on the Wall is a storming sea shanty that shimmies with sweat and seduction. For those that have an openly excited mind this is a rare gem. Spend some time with imaginary friends. It's really wonderful stuff. - BBC Online

In a similar vein to the supernatural calm of Antony And The Johnsons, this is both ominous and poetic.
Based around an operatic vocal and an ambient orchestra, it offers the kind of surreal beauty that Stanley Kubrick would have given his beard for.
From the blinding rush of The Moors to the grand death march of Night Of Power, it's a remarkable experience that will leave you in goosebumps. 8/10 - Planet Sounds - Channel 4 / ITV

"…an early contender for album of the year. With so many gems in its 10 tracks,
it's a can't-miss proposition for any fan of well-structured pop or ace female
vocalists."
- Penny Black Music.

'Glorious Orchestral Folk melodrama.' - The Sun

'...SOIF make the most touching sounds this side of Goldfrapp’s ’felt mountain’ and the Shortwave Set. With a suggested filing next to Musetta’s exquisite debut from earlier this year, we suggest you dim the lights, loosen up, chill out and be prepared for 13 minutes of unrivalled enchantment. ’the moors’ is a breathlessly beautiful noire laced torch song of some heartbreaking grandeur, both sophisticated and tender it’s a creative colossus of timeless proportions, the gentle caress of the wide screen symphonic aspects recalling Sakamoto’s early solo work, the sepia glazes, the peppering of accordions (has there ever been a better argument for their re-introduction into the pop vocabulary - see L’Augmentation for further evidence) and the overall elegance of the artistry combine to make this a seducing affair that appears to wallow resplendently when what you really expect is that it’ll blossom and erupt at some point - instead it’s a captured moment of refined beauty. ’the lovely rain’ features ex Cardiacs man William D Drake taking up piano duties (last appeared in these pages via his ’earthly shrine’ single last year - see missive 145) - a gorgeously fragile and porcelain slice of numbing classicism that’ll literally tear you from the inside out with its hollowed and majestic tear stained string adorned reflective touch. All said and done though the parting ’Windows’ is it must be said a class apart that just demands to be heard. A truly bracing and reclaimed slice of intoxicating song craft, almost catches you unaware like traps set for poachers, what first appears as a frail and spectral slice of monastic styled timelessly bound folk gracefulness soon unfurls unexpectedly with majestic consequence into a tempestuous operatic whirlpool that combines the unworldly spectral romance of the aforementioned Goldfrapp’s ’felt mountain’ and wires into its melodic matrix Gregorian elements of Kate Bush’s ’Sat in your lap’ and the arabesque swirls of Transglobal Underground whilst applying a drama fuelled underpinning a la Bernard Herrmann with vocalist Louise Kleboe amid the eye of the storm lost in the beauty of it all. Both haunting and hymnal it truly is an emotion sapping experience. Stunning.' - EP review by Mark Barton UK editor of Losing Today Magazine and The Sunday Experience.