MI AND L'AU - SELF TITLED

Last summer I had the very great pleasure of seeing Mi and L'au on tour with Josephine Foster. The audience was extremely quiet and respectful, almost to the point of being mesmerised, and when the first song ended the duo quickly began the next, without applause. Having accepted this as the natural course of events, the same thing happened after every song!

Apparently Mi and L'au were becoming increasingly worried that the audience didn't like them, but the thunderous applause and standing ovation that followed their last number must have set their minds at rest. This release almost has the same effect...it certainly arrests attention, almost whispering in the listener's ear. Much of the sound is sparse, and, appropriately enough the bones of the album were put together in a small isolated cabin in Finland, where the pair live. There is a feeling of slowly thawing sexuality, and small lights in empty darkness. Additional instrumentation was added by members of Akron/Family and Antony and the Johnsons, and it's been done tastefully, allowing the songs plenty of room to breathe. The album would have sounded fine without overdubs, in my opinion, but the variety of sound provided makes for a slightly more reassuring listen. On 'Older' the sound of hands sliding to make chords cuts through the wash of strings very nicely, maintaining the song's intimacy.