ShockolaD, Ewa Novel. Nova. /digi-pack/.

The first album by ShockolaD was created in close cooperation with Polish musicians, and during all the next years Poland has played a significant role in the group's journeys – and not only geographical ones. And now, it seems, the circle is closed for them to reach something new: from the initial composition, only Anastasia Litvinyuk and Ihor Hnydyn have stayed (by the way, the later is the arranger of all the songs represented here), the rest of the lines are within responsibility of our Polish brethren led by Ewa Novel. The basis of the material is the Polish folklore – although enough space was left for the Ukrainian one as well. And somehow quite expectedly the band's music has regained its distinct ethno-jazz colors, stepping aside from the previous lounge rails. Thus, at first glance, this retreat is most obvious in keyboard and percussion parts – however, at concerts all the five musicians set it on fire. And while the album recording keeps prompting one to dance, the drive of live performance surpasses even that – believe me, or better check it up by personally experiencing it, it's worth that. The updated ShockolaD is generally good, but Ihor Hnydyn in particular – is sheer joy and pride, honestly.