As she announced in the bio, she has taken a more poppy direction with this album instead of letting her Hagalaz’ Runedance roots come through too much. You might say that this is more commercial, but if you know this woman’s background you will quickly realise that this is probably not the case. So what does a woman with a fascination for the supernatural, animals and the mysteries of life have to offer us?

 

Enchanting compositions with a tiny gothic undertone is what I’d say. I think that we are dealing with (one of) the first gothic orientated trip hop albums. The name Massive Attack popped into my head more than once, so that says enough I think. I can’t even focus on the words she is saying, the music just comes and takes me away. Ten highly atmospheric spacey songs with fairy like singing and relaxing melodies can be found on Essensual. A must for every pot-smoking gothic girl, or boy for that matter. The album also features a cover from The Cure, namely ‘The Figurehead’, but since I really don’t like that band I don’t know if she did a good job on revising that.

 

Much more I can’t say, because this is way out of my league of expertise, but this stuff is good. It will appeal to people into gothic, folk, trip hop and funeral doom alike. If you’re into one of these, check it out. You just might like it.