Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi (or The Havels for the English-speaking audience) is a duo from Czech Republic that's together on the stage for over 30 years now (or even more as they were part of a band called Capella Antiqua e Moderna). It seems that their last album is an already a decade-old Tuláci V Zrcadlovém Sále so it's a good opportunity to refresh their works with this collection of songs taken from various part of the duo's career, called Melodies in the Sand .
The Czechs do great job in combining neoclassical instrumental music, mostly piano and heavy-sounding strings, with experiments with vocals that create a haze made of voices and whispers which is an utterly atmospheric and mysterious thing to do. Most of the compositions here are instrumental though. They are both minimalist in the sense of being created on maximum two instruments (as far as I can say) and dark/moody which doesn't always go together that well. They are also featured with an "ability to penetrate and enrich the innermost corners of a perceptive human soul, a gift which they share with sincerity and humbleness". And also, I'd never heard of them before so I consider myself lucky it finally changed.
Melodies in the Sand costs 7 EUR.
Check: That Which Glitters
Country: Czech Republic
Genre: dark neoclassicism
Label: Melody As Truth