Espers – III (Witchita Recordings) Esper’s line-up for “III” is slightly reduced from “II”’s sextet to the current quintet, which still houses the 3 original members and the vocal leads are switched and shared between Greg Weeks and Meg Baird as previously.  The experimental cello of Helen Espvall remains as does Otto Hauser on drums and the acid-leads, psychedelic effects and synths are still there but not as confronting and consuming as on previous LPs. The 3 years since “II” have been pretty busy by all accounts - both Weeks and Baird have released solo albums, Espvall has recorded in her own name (on the likes of the experimental compliation, “Garden of Forking Paths”) and The Valerie Project (including Weeks, Brooke Seitinson and Espvall) and The Mountain Home (Weeks) released their debuts.  Intended as a lighter offering than the claustrophobic, heavily layered “II”, “III” does not quite hit their original ‘cheery at times’ aim but certainly has a brighter front end.  Opener, “I Can’t See Clear” exemplifies this as it’s an up-beat and gloriously feminine, folk-rock affair and sets a tonal motif that resurfaces throughout the rest of the album.  “III” has less of the Appalachian folkiness of “Espers” and is less black-magical and druggy than “II”, but it retains their integral grace and density. “III” is characterised by, it’s duality - the peaceful and airy Baird vs the Prince of darkness, Weeks (although overall it could be argued that it has just chosen to favour the side of relaxed and peaceful).  There are bleak tracks; “The Road Of Golden Dust” talks of death and the penultimate track, “Colony” (originally intended as the album’s title) is another moodier moment. These nestle themselves alongside more conventional folk-rock inspired sounding numbers like the closing track ‘Trollslända” (trans: Dragonfly). For fans, it will recall the lighter and less acid folk leanings of the Weed Tree E.P. (which bridged the gap between the darker album works, “Espers I” & “II”) - which may or may not be a good thing! In the folk-rock cloakroom Esper’s cloaks can be found hanging on the pegs marked, Fairport Convention, H.P. Lovecraft and Pentangle. www.myspace.com/espers Willsk Espers – Caroline Next