Fifth full length release for the project of Lloyd James and Joanne Owen, SILENT LIFE is bringing, after three years from the previous "Perfection is a process", more songs influenced by folk (less than usual) and post punk. The duo is joined by Greg Ferrari and John Murphy, with guest contributions from Rose McDowall, Matt Howden and David E. Williams. The eight tracks sometimes made me remember of early Nick Cave because of the distorted feedbacks provided by Greg Ferrari and also because the tension created by the tribal style drumming. To get my point try tracks like "Hasty bastard" or the following eight minutes long "The ballad of Benjamin Munt": here the feedback and the guitar riffs, along with the treated violin, create a strong structure which duet with the acoustic guitar and Lloyd vocals. Also the lyrics of the tracks sometimes made me felt the same feeling of the stories sung by Cave: stories made of lost men with no chances of redemption. "White love", instead, is a song on its own because of that little noise loop which go with the slow jazzy drum/piano duet. The album is closed by "Dominic song", a track deeply influenced by Joy Division/early New Order, maybe because of the feelings which the song is permeated with. Maybe it sounds like that because it is a tribute to a dead friend. Good album...