Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
We look upon this world as if we are but spoilt children, the only amusement we find is that in which others give us when we demand, the only appreciation gained is when we regret that it has been taken away from us, and then with petulance we kick and scream our displeasure, we become spiteful and then as a final act we begin to steal what is not ours and hold it for ransom, the highest bidder gaining ground, the Earthly Delights not realised.
It is in the Earthly Delights that we should remember just what we are here for, custodians not owners, renting and planting inspiration to the generations to come, not being a soulless, dogmatic machine whose only care is what they can possess next, what can be broken, what they can destroy. It perhaps has gone too far, but there is always hope, always the appearance of the unexpected which brings a song in which the heart is gladdened and the spirit to remember the fight, the battle for a more just world, is not over yet.
Daria Kulesh has brought enlightenment to the music she has produced across two previous albums, and now, in this her third release, such rich and aurally spiritual stories are once again grandstanding with sympathy and natural beauty.
In the power of the strong at heart anything is possible, those who carry their voice into the realm of the disenfranchised and the ones who carry the black mark of violence in their hearts, such is the positivity that it can act as a curious case of enrichment, a vaccine for the disease we continue to spread.
However, it takes character to bring such beauty into the world, something that is witnessed completely in Ms. Kulesh’s heritage, drive and understanding of the ambitious sound she brings to the realm of Folk music, one that has culture sewn through it, a tapestry of wondrous colour and imagination, the enquiring mind and the resolution to start fighting back, not with ugly sentiments and bandied around political phrases signifying nothing, but honest warmth, the enormity of fairy tales, legends and flair.
Across songs such as Quiet Joys of Brotherhood, Rusalka, Morozko, Pride and Petravore and Greedy King, Ms. Kulesh sends out into the ether a sense of purpose, a companion of joy and strength and resolve to not allow our natural treasures, our Earthly Delights go without a fight. She is not alone, but in her music, in that natural sensuality and affinity she has honed now in three albums, she leads from the front and with her banner unfurled with pride.
Ian D. Hall