Ostia- Between Two Cities

ARTIST: Ostia
ALBUM: Between Two Cities
LABEL: GalaSono Records
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-27-07

Cult Australian dream-pop group Ostia are back with their first new music in ten years, and it's as if they never left. This four-song EP is gorgeously mellow, with opening song "In the Fall" being particularly languid; the vocals don't kick in until after the third minute mark, and even then are mere wisps floating along a stream of echoing electric guitar strums and lazily plodding drumbeats. "Strange Birds" is a bit more solid, with hints of jazziness in the layered swirling guitars, while "The Hundred-Handed" is darker and more stripped down, with just a hint of country twang in the vein of Neither/Neither World or even Mazzy Star. Ostia save the biggest for last with the more electrified "Land's End," the guitars at their fullest and all but overwhelming the poor drum machine, but still wonderfully drugged out and drifting. Long-time ethereal fans should be overjoyed that Ostia are working together again, and more recent fans of stuff like Slowdive and Soul Whirling Somewhere should use this as an opportunity to discover this lesser-known band. Hopefully if enough people check out this EP, we won't have to wait another decade or two for a new full-length.

Learn about Ostia's career and preview tracks from the new EP at http://ostia-music.com.