Yndi Halda - Enjoy Eternal Bliss [2005]

Genre: Post-Rock, Instrumental, Neo-Classical

MySpace: yndihalda

My opinion & thought: A great post-rock music debut album (EP), or you can call it modern classical instead. Sounds expansive & cinematic.

Stands out track(s): Dash And Blast, Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!

Yndi Halda (pronounced YIN-dee hal-DAR) are an indie-rock band from Canterbury, United Kingdom. 'Yndi Halda' is Old Norse for "Enjoy Eternal Bliss", also the name of their "self-titled" debut. The band's music is characterized by expansive, cinematic pieces that have seen the group compared to modern classical.

Enjoy Eternal Bliss was a debut EP recorded by instrumental band Yndi Halda and released on the Big Scary Monsters Recording Company in the UK; Burnt Toast Vinyl in the USA and XTAL Records in Japan. It was first made available online on November 13, 2006 before being released in shops in February 2007. The EP was previously self-released as a 3-track demo through the band's website and live performances. This version of the EP did not include the track "A Song For Starlit Beaches".

The title "EP" is often called into question due to the record's length. Indeed, only the UK edition of "Enjoy Eternal Bliss" was titled as such - in all other territories it was renamed as an LP or full-length album on behalf of the band.

Tracklisting:

"Dash and Blast"

"We Flood Empty Lakes"

"A Song For Starlit Beaches"

"Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!"

History:

Composed of members James Vella (guitar, glockenspiel, lapsteel, piano, banjo, organ and vocals), Jack Lambert (guitar), Brendan Grieve (bass), Daniel Neal (violin) and Oliver Newton (drums, tambourine), the band formed in 2001 while all of the members were still in school. Former bassist Daniel Lovegrove (also the sole member ofUnstatuesque) was apparently only considered a band member during the recording of 'Enjoy Eternal Bliss'. In the summer of 2005, they began recording the three tracks that make up self-released Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP, which was finished in the autumn of that year.

The self-released edition of Enjoy Eternal Bliss was often reviewed favorably (although the band has copied negative reviews onto its MySpace site) and gained attention because of its distinctive, individualized hand-made covers.

They gained a strong fanbase from the self-released EP despite their limited exposure on the live circuit and signed to the acclaimed European record label Big Scary Monsters and Burnt Toast Vinyl in North America in 2006.

The world-wide release of the Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP followed in February 2007. It featured a fourth song previously unavailable on the self-released edition. The band were recently voted 'Ones To Watch in 2007' byRock Sound magazine in the UK, who awarded Enjoy Eternal Bliss a near-perfect score in the February 2007 issue.

The band toured the UK, Europe, North America and Asia to promote the release of Enjoy Eternal Bliss. Recent live shows have also included performing at the Rhâââ Lovely Festival in Belgium, the Formoz Festivalin Taipei, the Electrical Lands Festival in Paris and at the Barbican Hall in London.

We Flood Empty Lakes, a song from Enjoy Eternal Bliss, was featured on a recent Fuel TV commercial.

The Insider's Guide to Beijing 2008 refers to the band's August 2007 performance in Beijing as part of their Asian tour as a demonstration of modern, western rock music becoming more prominent in the Chinese live scene.

New material has been debuted live since the last half of 2007, which has suggested a dramatic change in direction from the band. While previously almost entirely instrumental and electric, this new material has featured a notable shift to acoustic instruments (acoustic guitar, organ, double bass) and more vocal songwriting.