Winter Solstice (North) (1999...a) [Coil...CD EP]

01 A White Rainbow
02 North
03 Magnetic North
04 Christmas is Now Drawing Near

Notes...

The CD has an extended version of "A White Rainbow"
"Christmas Is Now Drawing Near" is a traditional, performed here by Rosa Mundi.
Collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. The fourth and final of the 1998 seasonal singles, "North" continues in the same vein as the previous three: "Amethyst Deceivers", "Bee Stings" and "Moon's Milk". Once again Coil create a minimal yet deep, emotive aural environment for Balance's interesting words. "A White Rainbow" is centered around John's double tracked sprawling vocals and William Breeze's electric viola. Balance's lyrics on this song seem to tie the whole equinox/solstice singles series together. The last 3 minutes or so are essentially instrumental and the song ends in a chaotic jumble of sounds (similar to "A Warning From the Sun" from "Bee Stings"). "North" is comprised of washes of sound, a hushed spoken 2 line vocal from Balance and a heavily chorused, subtle beat. "Magnetic North" is more drone-y ... flowing synth lines form the background for Balance's quietly spoken words. "Christmas.." is sung by Rose McDowall with a glorious backing of disorted snyths and viola ... only Coil can transform a traditional Catholic song into something so achingly beautiful. The artwork is similar to the previous singles, except that this time it appears energy is exploding outwards from the oval. "North" evokes the same sort of feelings in me as most other music by Coil ... a sense of otherworldliness and unsettling familiarity, and an impression of a great importance that is beyond my ability to fully comprehend. This is emotion drenched music. All good things must come to an end though, so I eagerly await the next project by Coil. - Mark Weddle