Product Description

The 2004 neo-classical / heavenly voices debut from Mirabilis is back in print for the first time in years in a new packaging configuration; a beautiful re-release on Projekt; released in conjunction with Middle Pillar Presents. Beautiful vocals were expected from Mirabilis, but far beyond that, they combine intuition, scholarship, and inspired talent. Bravo! - Gothic Beauty Magazine

Entitled Pleiades, the album is a collaboration between Summer Bowman of The Machine in the Garden and Dru Allen of This Ascension. Pleiades contains original compositions as well as interpretations of traditional pieces stretching back to the 16 th century. Mixing a cappella, neo-classical and darkwave instrumentation, the songs blend together the beautiful voices of Summer and Dru as well as guest vocalists Regeana Morris from The Changelings, Katy Belle and Rebecca Colleen Miller.

Pleiades opens and closes with a ghostly choir evoking the two sisters on the album cover. In the Dark leads with its tribal rhythm and background chant of In the dark I see clearly . Weep, O Mine Eyes is a beautiful a cappella love song written by John Bennet (16 th century). Haunted is an ethereal wail from beyond the veil. Riu Riu Chiu is a traditional Spanish song that showcases the harmonies of the vocalists as well as many tracks in Latin such as Libera Me and Mysterium (lead vocal Rebecca Colleen Miller). Invocation of the Sun by the poet William Drummond shines with lead vocals by Katy Belle. The Changelings Regeana Morris laments on the ballad Ripple. A more classical interpretation is rendered on Scarborough Fair while sorrowful keys back up the funeral lay of An Epitaph made hopeful by the lead vocal of Dru and Summer. Read reviews of the 2004 release here.

Track Listing

1. Pleiades
2. In the Dark
3. Weep, O Mine Eyes
4. Moon
5. Haunted
6. Hide Away
7. Libera Me
8. Riu Riu Chiu
9. O Virga Ac Diadema
10. Invocation of the Sun
11. Scarborough Fair
12. Tears (17th Century)
13. Ripple
14. Nox Nivosa
15. Mysterium
16. Epitaph
17. Pleiades (Reprise)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #633019 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

OUTBURN MAGAZINE #25 spring 2004
Heavenly voices and medieval melodies. As enjoyable as their other bands are, Mirabilis is truly something special.

Grave Concerns - 2/19/4
Dru and Summer harmonize like two angels...history, darkwave, ethereal vocals make this a cd that will appeal to many.

About the Artist
Mirabilis is the neo-classical/ethereal musical project started by Dru Allen of This Ascension and Summer Bowman of the Machine in the Garden. Using vocals as the primary instrumentation, Mirabilis crafts original musical compositions as well as interprets traditional classical vocal pieces from a number of different periods. The music is melodic and rich and borrows from classical, ethereal, darkwave, and gothic genres.

The name Mirabilis is Latin for something that is wonderful, miraculous, or unusual. The two women see their musical union as an amazing and unique experience and the name embodies those sentiments. This artistic joining led to the 17 track creation, Pleiades.

Dru and Summer are the core members of Mirabilis but use the project as an avenue to bring in other like minded artists as guest performers to create something that is extraordinary and unique such as Regeana Morris (of the Changelings), Katy Belle and Rebecca Colleen Miller. In 2001, Mirabilis made their debut on Projekt’s holiday compilation, Excelsis, Volume 3 with their rendition of the Spanish carol, "Riu Riu Chiu". In late 2003, Fossil Dungeon released a limited-edition 7-inch EP containing four songs, as a prelude to their debut full-length album, Pleiades released on Middle Pillar Presents in 2004.

Summer Bowman is also half of acclaimed gothic/darkwave duo the Machine in the Garden. Summer has performed roles as both a singer and songwriter and has also become involved in the recording studio engineering, mixing, and producing. In addition to these projects, Summer performs with the Austin Civic Chorus, the featured chorus of the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

Dru Allen has also put her stamp on the ethereal world, having co-founded the band This Ascension. The group blends standard indie rock with tribal elements and a number of vocal styles including opera, medieval, and traditional folk. In addition, Dru performed in the University of California Santa Barbara Women’s Ensemble every quarter for four years while working towards her degree in Classical Latin and Greek.

Customer Reviews

These siren songs are worth the shipwreck
If you've seen "The Shawshank Redemption," do you remember when Tim Robbins plays the soprano duet over the prison speakers? All the convicts are frozen in place, hypnotized. Such is the potential of the human voice.

Apart from some guest vocals and mild instrumentation, the CD boils down to the enchanting harmonies of Dru and Summer. "Pleiades" is a perfect fit for fans of Lisa Gerrard, Miranda Sex Garden and The Changelings. Many of the lyrics are from previous centuries. Seventeen tracks of madrigal/ethereal/heavenly voices beauty, all in a clever eco-pack with a foam disc tab instead of a plastic frame.

My personal favorites:
"In The Dark" - a tribal siren song, likely good for getting thy freake on.
"Haunted" - vocal ether floating over dark ambience; well-named
"Hide Away" - the comfort of C-major, tempered with lyrical pain.
(This one chases me in my sleep. It's a gentler take on Nine Inch Nails' "Something I Can Never Have.")

"Riu Riu Chiu" - some of the best harmonizing on the whole CD.
"Invocation of The Sun" - Katy Belle's vocals have kind of an Emilianna Torrini fragility.
"An Epitaph" - if this doesn't end up in at least an indie film, I'm gonna whup somebody.
"Pleiades (Reprise)" - brief and soothing, in a manner similar to Faith and The Muse's "The Birds of Rhiannon."

Mirabilis is the best thing to come out of Texas since Ranger Cordell Walker.

Achingly Beautiful, Moving, Timeless, a Triumph of Artistry
Pleiades is a gift of exquisite beauty to a world that needs it badly. This is an album that I've been waiting for, for a VERY long time, an album that transcends all time and space. A true gem, Pleiades features darkly textured, infinitely soulful compositions, in addition to fresh resurrections of long forgotten, centuries old song literature. Dru and Summer are both incredible women, and their voices blend perfectly together to create a lush, velvety, supernatural texture to which nothing in this world can compare. It was a rare feast for the ears, music that got inside me and satisifed my craving for a kind of special beauty. Listen for yourself, if you're looking for a very unique experience. I can assure you that it will feed you something that you didn't realize you hungered for.

Amazing vocals!
This is a gorgeous album -- lush vocals and intelligent mixing. Sensitivly produced, here is music beyond genre definitions; it decants modernly gothic with hints of ancient awakenings and finishes medieval on the back of the palette. When I first heard the tempo of "Riu Riu Chiu" elsewhere, I raised an eyebrow, but the mixing reveals not just a love for the music but for the richness of the language.

This disc pares well with This Ascension's "Sever."