The ominous sounds of instrumental overture Breathing Bull have only just started to peal from the speakers when, outside my study, a dark cloud hides the sun that had been shining cheerfully up till then and a hellish thunderstorm breaks out. You can't make that up. David Eugene Edwards spooks me. But he does make otherworldly fantastic music.

He already did that in 16 Horsepower times and with Woven Hand he takes it one big step further. Formerly he limited himself mainly to folk and blues rooted in the Appalachians. On this, the fourth Woven Hand album he travels trough time and styles. The melody of Swedish Purse is based on a medieval ballad, whilst the lyrics of Twig are derived from a St. Ambrose, who is supposed to have lived a couple of centuries before the birth of Christ. (TYFC: well, the booklet says 340-397 AD…)

Yes indeed, David is a devout disciple of the Lord. His poetic lyrics are timeless though and force even the most unyielding atheist to think. Dirty Blue is the song Andrew Eldritch wished he'd written for his Sisters Of Mercy. But Edwards isn't a black-clad poseur who confines himself to a stylistic format. This man opts for a kaleidoscopic approach. From Irish folk and Japanese roots to classic Elizabethan and the hypnotizing drone of the Aboriginals. Meanwhile the mystic is speaking in tongues.

Mysterious, spellbinding and inescapable. Mosaic is a fearsome beautiful album