24/7, November 1999


REFLECTING SKIN (Luminous Motion) Haley 11-song CD
REFLECTING SKIN – Haley

Like a dark, melancholic cloud looming on the horizon, vocalist Leah Chandra's intense vocalic offering on "Seven Mile Drive" sets the stage for the shaded, intelligent music of Reflecting Skin. Marrying elements of non-commercial pop with defining vocals and rigid guitars, aggressive peripheral percussion, and sublime, rolling bass rhythms, Reflecting Skin is not the type of group one would expect to see in Boston, but rather a pub in Dublin, Ireland. Though they are home product, Reflecting Skin maintains a coolly attractive unfinished vibe to their music, which in my opinion pushes their sound ahead of many others in the field. Here in 1999, Boston does have a few female-led bands (most of which we could all do without), however Reflecting Skin's innovative approach by incorporating vivid broodish Celtic-styled acoustic guitars on tracks like 'Unrising Sun' give credence to the notion that Boston still has creative, hard-working musicians on the periphery who are not necessarily playing the Linwood every week to get what one would call 'good, quality' exposure. Falling somewhere in the fold between Lisa Gerrard and the defunct They Eat Their Own, Reflecting Skin have a bright future in spite of their darkened musical visage! (Reviewed by The Alkemist) (Above image borrowed from www.reflectingskin.net)