AMG Review of Elena

Kurt Morris
All Music Guide

It's hard to deny Puerto Muerto's unique approach to music. While the two main artists who make up the act only use guitar and bass drum along with Christa Meyer's mesmerizing vocals (which seem somewhat similar to Enya's at times), on this album they have included sitar, clarinet, and cello, among other things. After a needless opening track, the album slowly gains strength but unfortunately doesn't reach its peak until the remixes at the end. The three tracks are remixes of songs played earlier on the album and are much more intriguing as far as their depth and attitude. Unfortunately, this is one of the problems with Elena, yet the primary one is that this is a concept album but no lyrics are included. The other problem is that the album doesn't draw the listener in or keep his or her attention until later on with songs like "Licht," which masterfully utilizes the sitar in a hypnotic manner. There is definitely a lot to sort through with this album and much good to be found, yet as a whole it doesn't pull the listener in and that's the real shame, especially if this is supposed to be a concept album that the listener is supposed to be able to follow.