Marc Almond - Orpheus In Exile (2009)

2009 collaboration from former Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond and Russian producer Alexei Fedorov, a tribute to legendary Russion performer Vadim Kozin. Kozin was the Soviet era's much-loved, exiled then forgotten singer of Gypsy Folk and Russian Torch Song Romances. Marc discovered Kozin's work on his first visit to Russia in 1992 and was immediately taken with the purity and passion of his voice, as well as the beauty and melancholy of his songs. Recorded and mixed in Moscow with Fedorov, Oprheus in Exile features Russia's most famous Folk ensemble, Orchestra Rossiya, and sees Kozim's lyrics specially translated for Marc. The flamboyance and despair of Kozin is juxtaposed by the ever-present optimism of a lost genre of song. Marc gives these universal concerns an overdue airing on a unique album that gives the original songs an all-new big, classy and stylized orchestral production, yet stays true to the original feel and roots of the songs. SFE.