KRUT. Live Concert With Chamber Orchestra. /digi-pack/.

The space – that's why this album appeals. It seems clear that competent engagement of an orchestra virtually automatically adds volume – but there are nuances. In this case, this is author material, an indie project constructed around the bandura (and the ambition is to make the bandura sound modern, not emasculated) – moreover, from the very beginning KRUT has been tending towards crossovers in his style solutions. So, orchestration of such material was quite a challenge. Have they succeeded? It seems they have. They managed to gently but confidently "spotlight" the bandura against the general palette; in the layering and branching of the orchestration they managed to save space for inclusions of soul, blues, and funk – and from there, there is, obviously, just one step left to jazz aftertastes. They managed to arrange the space so that one listens to the 70-minute album at one go, as to single canvas, and a holistic story. They managed to make the inner space of this record cozy, close, and almost intimate. In terms of the scale of the idea and its incarnation, it seems to be a new bar/height not only for the project by Maryna Krut, but also for the Ukrainian indie scene in general. The resulting product may not be perfect – however, it is surely significant. And then – to reach the end of the way one needs not to stop. Maryna obviously does not intend to stop – and it is very good.