To Know Where It's Going

Cypriot brothers Anthony and Demetri Kastellani’s music exists in a beautiful, heart-smashingly sad interzone between song and ambience. Their influences go deep: the artier soundtracks of Ennio Morricone and Mikis Theodorakis, and the most subdued murmurings of David Sylvian and Arthur Russell (Russell’s regular collaborator the trombonist and producer Peter Zummo is present here on “Whatever Beauty”). But it’s distinctly 21st century: without any high-tech signifiers, they have a sense of space and structure that could only come from a post-electronica act. It’s extremely potent stuff, which can bowl you over if you’re feeling vulnerable.