Myk Jung- The Nine Lost Ballads

Grave Concerns readers of a more cosmopolitan nature than I may well know Myk Jung as the voice behind such scene names as Testify and Nine Gods Bleed. This is a different direction for Myk by all accounts, a direction characterised by what are described as “timeless melancholic ballads”

Quite where these nine ballads have been lost all this time is not revealed, but brought forth unto the world they are, interspersed with the tracks Flight I to Flight VI, a number of recurring ethereal collages.

The overall mood of the album is that of deep melancholy. Ghostly pianos, and orchestral arrangements run throughout. Myk’s doom-laden crooning adds the final touch to the black-painted canvas that is the Nine Lost Ballads.

Standout tracks are ‘The Ancient Moon”, a dreamy piano-led affair, which almost threatens at time to lift itself above the melancholy at times, and “A Dream of Sway”, which together with “Veiled” are sung by Myk’s apparently ten-year old daughter Allegra. Both of these Allegra-fronted songs are truly gorgeous, and a sweet respite from her father’s sorrowful musings.

This is chill-out melancholia at its best – Allegra particularly has a voice worthy of note for the future.