Reviews:

From Darkroom: (by Roberto Filippozzi)

  Pubblicato in origine nel 2008 in una tiratura esigua di sole 200 copie, il lavoro d'esordio di Bleeding Heart Narrative viene ora ristampato dalla Cold Spring, che lo dota di una traccia bonus ("Blueskywards") e - strano a dirsi - di una confezione digipak molto curata, stampata su carta ruvida e con libretto esplicativo. Avvalendosi di una strumentazione rock, coadiuvata dall'elettronica ma anche da strumenti classici e acustici, questo giovane progetto inglese costruisce brani evocativi, fortemente tristi e nebbiosi, ricordando a più riprese sia alcuni grandi act shoegaze che le ambientazioni tipiche del post-rock. Su questo impianto di partenza non vengono a mancare soluzioni più rumorose ("Bhn", "A Nest" e "Though Your Feet Have Left Footprints") che mantengono uno stretto legame con la malinconia, ma anche pezzi prettamente neoclassici: proprio in tali frangenti, laddove intervengono i violini e il piano, i suoni, almeno in fase di arrangiamento, ricordano assai da vicino i Sol Invictus del periodo di mezzo, con quella capacità di descrivere ambienti lontani e giardini segreti dal taglio fortemente british. "Braids And A Necklace", "Blueskywards", "Discovering Abandoned Houses" o "Finding The Door" sono tra i momenti più riusciti proprio in virtù di un tocco strumentale neoclassico che dà il senso dell'infinito. "All That Was Missing..." è un disco che viaggia contemporaneamente su strade diverse, in grado di abbeverarsi a molteplici fonti fornendo un risultato di sicuro interesse, spesso imperniato su una discreta vena melodica. Dopo la pubblicazione del disco di Alex Tiuniaev, la Cold Spring cede ancora - e con buoni risultati - alle tentazioni sonore più soffici, nonché a contenuti vagamente sentimentali, accantonando di tanto in tanto, e a ragione, la solita verve dura fatta di industrial e noise.

From Orkus: (by Thomas Sonder)

  Auf eine kurze, aber voluminöse Noise-Wand (deren Bedeutung irgendwie nicht erschließbar ist) folgt eine Art organischer Ambient, eine malerisch-traumvolle Phantasiewelt, gebildet aus atmosphärischen Streicherebenen, Klavierpassagen, Ambient-Ebenen, zarten Noises und auch einigen Gesangs-/Sprecheinlagen, welche aber lediglich als rare Beigabe vorkommen. Im Ganzen ist all that was missing we never had in the world trotz seiner flüssigen und offenen Struktur schwer zugänglich; man muss sich schon ziemlich tief hineinfallen lassen, um den Faden zu erhaschen, denn ansonsten kommt es einem so vor, als dämmere dieses Werk in Belanglosigkeit vor sich hin und her. Lautstärke hoch und Alltag runter, nur so und nicht anders findet sich der Einstieg in die Welt von bleeding heart narrative.

From Vital Weekly: (by NM)

  Present album was originally released as a limited edition of 200 copies on Tataruga Records. One year after the original release British label Cold Spring Records now gives a wider audience the chance to get introduced to this interesting project. Behind the name Bleeding Heart Narrative, you find the London-based composer Oliver Barrett, who proves his insight knowledge in the world of acoustic sounds. Important elements on the album titled "All that was missing we never had in the world" is the sound of acoustic instruments such as cello, piano and guitar. Sometimes these acoustic sounds live their very own life in the music, other times the sounds are woven into electronic dronescapes, giving the music an ambient feeling. Musically, the album floats in-between ambient and postrock, mostly kept in trance-inducing atmospheres. A central part of the album is the excellent vocals of Alastair Bailey, that makes the overall style remind of the excellent joint venture-project between ambient-maestro Robert Rich and guitarist/bassist Rick Davies, Amoeba. As the album-title and the project-name suggest, the feeling on the album is melancholic and fragile. A beautiful and emotive experience that will appeal to listeners of dreamy postrock and acoustic based ambient.

From Compulsion: (by Tony Dickie)

  All That Was Missing... is another of those surprising releases that are picked up by Cold Spring for reissue. Bleeding Heart Narrative is the solo-project of the criminally young and talented composer/musician Oliver Barrett. All That Was Missing... was originally issued in a limited run of 200 copies on Tartaruga Records, compiled from three or so years of recording from this London based project.

Much of All That Was Missing... is built around piano, strings and voice cut through with experimental textures. It's an extremely mature record that manages to attain a feeling of melancholy through its use of classical instrumentation. In spite of its frequent forays into noise and drone based material it is undoubtedly a post-rock record, though. 'As If Yearning Was All And More Than Enough' with its repetitive piano notes, deep earthy cello swabs is lead by a sombre violin score. It's followed by the piano loops of 'Black Glass' with multi-tracked sombre vocals over rustling percussion. These are somewhat reminiscent of Larsen which is no bad thing. 'Braids And A Necklace' is based around sweeping scrapes of the violin building up into hushed deep melodies courtesy of Alastair Bailey. With a flurry of repeated piano notes and mordant chords 'Blueskywards' is a gem of a track. Violins swirl and disappear, a plaintive voice flanked by appealing harmonies enters before the entire pieces slips away far, far too early.

From then on All That Was Missing... slides into more improvised and experimental areas with diminishing returns. 'A Nest' resonates in a blurred and blissful manner with shimmering drones and strings. Loose acoustic guitar playing jostles with harmonica-like drones on 'Discovering Abandoned Houses', while 'Nothing Is Out In The Yard' comprises aching strings, and tinkering piano notes alongside droney sax playing. The lack of song structure is disheartening when you know what Bleeding Heart Narrative are capable of. 'Though Your Feet Have Left Footprints', like the opening track, injects some textured noise alongside the classical instrumentation. Bleeding Heart Narrative are wonderful at drawing out a song from fragemnts of ambience they create. The hushed harmonies of 'Finding The Door' open up into the, by now, familiar repetitive piano and sweeping cello, while dreamy atmospherics coalesce with lush fuzzed guitar chords on the final track 'Lillian Gish' as the massed voices pull on the tailcoats of Akkron Family or current media darlings Fleet Foxes.

All That Was Missing... manages to touch all the bases: it's neo-classical in instrumentation, it's post-rock in structure, it carries traces of nu-folk in its voices, and it touches upon the current fascination with noise. All of this helps to make All That Was Missing... sound familiar. And while that is its immediate strength it's also at the root of its weakness. Bleeding Heart Narrative are undoubtedly talented; when they are good they are very good, but, at points, All That Was Missing... loses direction and consistency. It's unarguably an impressive debut but how much life I get out of it remains to be seen.

From The Shadows Commence: (by Markus)

  BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE is the composing moniker of Oliver Barrett, citizen of London.

  After a couple of years playing live and recording self-financed CDRs, Cold Spring Records got their hands on this gem, and decided to re-release it, in a fancy digipak along with an additional track.

  I first read about it in a newsletter and thought to myself, ”well, that can’t be too interesting” but I saw how exalted Justin was to present this album so I decided to give it a go. And I melted in the chair. And I started to drift away and fall apart and then I don’t remember much more. It was just, to use a mild word, insanely good!

  I could try to guide you through the 12 tracks here, and then give some personal thoughts on the album as a whole, and then it’s up to you to go listen. Trust me, no words can do this album fair so I really recommend that listening!

  Ah well, the album starts quite roughly with the thundering noise experiments in ”BHN”, short for BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE, I presume. Don’t worry, this track ain’t very significant for the overall sound. I still like this one though.

  Track two, ”As if Yearning was all and more than Enough” starts with some rapid piano rain drops, that are later accompanied by majestic cello strokes and things are already oh so beautiful around here! This be an instrumental one, and there ain’t much more happening than a couple of violins joining in. It’s not easy to frame this one, somewhere between post rock and neoclassical I should claim the sound rests.

  ”Black Glass” is the best song I’ve heard this year. Still, the piano is in focus. A simple melody. Turns out to be looped over and over again. We get some distant vocals. Strings to extend the mood. Fabulous!

  The album continues to amaze; ”Braids and a Necklace” sounds like one of those faithful, dramatic Japanese movies you might have seen sometime. Violin or cello based. Can’t tell. The production is quite murky, something I’ll get back to later on. Near the end, we get some vocals again, what he’s singing, I can’t tell either but I don’t care. May it be whatever; it’s not important at all, the music holds so much beauty and emotions it’s ridiculous to focus on something futile as lyrics.

  The fifth track is called ”Blueskywards” and it is the bonus one. So glad it’s attached because this quickly became one of my favorites. Not very unlike the third track, this one starts with gentle piano plings and ends up in a mellow and comfortable mess of structured layers consisting of violins, singing, cellos and ambient atmospheres. Along with the end of it, we’re entering the albums (unofficially) more atmospheric half, kind of. And from here on, I will let you do the discovering yourself, since the more abstract things are, the harder it is to put fair words on it. Besides, my fingers are getting sore. Just a quickie to shed light on some favorites.

  ”A Nest” is a thoroughgoing ambient track with some ingredients making it a stand out in any context. Dreamy, full of air... Brings you high above ground and throws you down into the ambivalent ”This is the World Before This is” that keeps shuffling between beautiful and haunting thanks to dark and bright orchestral sounds.

  ”Discovering Abandoned Houses” was easy for me to fall for. Since the acoustic guitar is my favorite instrument, and since the acoustic guitar builds this track up, we got along well. It’s quite original, maybe influenced by the Takoma guys but then again, maybe not. A short interlude and a fine one indeed.

  If you've been reading at least somewhat heartly, you should know that I'm very enthusiastic about this release, which is one of the top three this year. But what makes it so special? Maybe you feel like I did after reading about BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE in that newsletter, that this really can't be that intriguing? Well, it's hard to say exactly what makes this minimal experimental neoclassical flirting saga so special. It's something about the production that gives you a feeling of both distance and isolation, no matter how loud you play it and no matter how close to the speakers you're sitting. And it is of course, painfully beautiful most of the time.

  Can't recommend "All That Was Missing We Never Had In The World" enough, ever.

From Ritual: (by Fabio Babini)

  Strana creatura partorita dalla Cold Spring, label che, ormai da anni, ha imparato a sdoganarsi dai dogmi dell'industrial intransigente, per dedicarsi a produzione più ad ampio respiro. Con un nome che è tutto un programma e un titolo che esprime la quintessenza della malinconia, i BHN (progetto del compositore Oliver Barrett) hanno la capacità di diversificare la loro proposta, pur esprimendosi con un album che potrebbe essere "letto" come un corpo unico. La matrice dark-ambient con un'eco industrial può anche essere un punto di partenza, ma qui troviamo un coacervo di elementi che vanno dai synth leggiadri di Sam Rosenthal al post-rock da camera dei Mono (se avete presente il loro album con World's End Girlfriend, con quell'enfasi autunnale degli archi), e addirittura qualche traccia cantata, sullo stile indie autoriale de L'Altra. 'Lilian Gish', brano che chiude il lavoro, è un canto corale in ascesi, con un lento tribalismo ipnotico alla Liars e una chitarra che arpeggia ipnotica, sognante.

From Chain D.L.K.: (by Maurizio Pustianaz)

  Originally released the last year on Tartaruga Records, ALL THAT WAS MISSING WE NEVER HAD IN THE WORLD, is the debut album by Oliver Barret's project Bleeding Heart Narrative. The twelve tracks of the release (on this Cold Spring reissue there's a short bonus track titled "Blueskyward") are in balance from orchestral noise rock, psychedelia, power noise (see the distorted orchestral opening tune "Bhn") and chamber shoegazing. Composed mainly by several layers of piano and strings filtered through reverb, the tracks are able to create moments where melancholia and a particular kind of romanticism are mixed. See for example "Black glass", where piano and melodic vocals form a proper song where sounds seem to come from another world. Listening to ALL THAT WAS MISSING WE NEVER HAD IN THE WORLD I have the same feeling I had listening to Slint records where tension and despair blend. Have you ever realized what kind of sound could produce a breaking tendon? I think this album is the answer...

From Mentenebre: (by Roberto G)

  ¿Puede la música recrear un mundo de belleza incalculable con la esencia del ambient e instrumentos clásicos como cuerdas, pianos y ruidos extraños?. Con "All that was missing we never had in the world" queda demostrado y certificado que sí se puede. Bleeding Heart Narrative es el proyecto en solitario de Oliver Barrett, quien escribe, compone, graba y produce su propia música. El disco que tenemos entre manos es en realidad una re-edicion del que fuera el primer disco de Oliver publicado en 2008 en una pequeña tirada de 200 copias. Sin embargo, la única diferencia entre ambos discos radica en que éste último incluye un bonus track del tema 'Blueskywards' y que obviamente se ha editado con otro sello.

  No sé... quizá podáis llamarme loco, pero encuentro cierta similitud entre la música de Oliver y la del estadounidense Anthony y su banda The Johnsons, sobre todo en algunos tracks y más que nada, lejos del apartado vocal, me refiero un poco a la sección instrumental, a la suavidad y textura de la música, de cómo se dejan caer las notas como ligeras plumas de ave, como ese sonido de lo que parece un cuarteto tan típico. "All that was missing we never had in the world" podría considerarse un álbum más instrumental que otra cosa; quiero decir que, aun existiendo temas con vocalistas y con sus letras, mayormente es instrumental. Como siempre le pasa a un servidor, la debilidad de la voz se impone nuevamente y prefiero más los temas cantados que los que no. Sin embargo, la fuerza y energía de captación de Oliver es tan evidente y sublime que prácticamente todo el disco está envuelto en una intensa bruma de adicción.Bleeding Heart Narrative - "All that Was Missing We Never Had in the World"

  Principalmente, su música se basa en pasajes ambientales, con bastante presencia de instrumentos clásicos de cuerda y pianos recreando la parte más melódica de los temas. Ocasionalmente, no muy presentemente, también juega con el noise y otros sonidos extraños. La esencia de su música no es del todo oscura, aunque si bien es cierto que algún que otro track roza esa locura ('Though your feb have left footprints'), pudiéndola definir más concretamente como música triste, relajante, inspiradora y bella.Bleeding Heart Narrative no es un proyecto de música dark-ambient, ni siquiera de ambient a la clásica. Aunque es cierto que los sonidos envolventes están presentes y las atmósferas son un papel importante en sus composiciones, la parte melódica toma mayor protagonismo y las capas y más capas de sonidos montándose todos a la par, o intercalándose, transmiten finalmente esa chispa que ni tiene ni tendrá otras músicas similares.

  Después de escuchar todo el disco, se me ha quedado algo en la cabeza, y es que todo suena como en una perpetua y continua bruma. Como si el sonido no viniera de este mundo, o no al menos de nada cercano a nosotros, y estuviera quizá separado por algo invisible que no podemos ver. El sonido está como emborronado, como sonando de lejos, como disfrazado de una amplia reverberación proveniente de una gigantesca catedral. Esa sensación, ese sonido emborronado... consigue transmitir una sensación única que, mezclado a los acordes armónicos, finalmente te transporta a un mundo de paz o, al menos, a un lugar donde vaciar la mente, respirar sin pensar en nada y simplemente escuchar y escuchar.

  Por último, comentar que Olivier Barret también experimenta en otras artes, tales como el dibujo de cómic, realizar cortos de cine y de vídeos musicales y en ocasiones actúa como DJ.

  En definitiva, un disco recomendadísimo para los amantes del ambient y, por qué no, para seguidores, por ejemplo, de Dead Can Dance ávidos de escuchar algo distinto y nuevo. Un disco espectacular, mágico y memorable. (9/10)