Claire Voyant: Victoria Lloyd (vocals); Benjamin Fargen (guitar); Chris Ross (keyboards, programming). Recording information: Sacramento, CA.

Claire Voyant CD discography. The world is filled with gloomy goth bands, and it can be pretty hard to tell them apart. Claire Voyant distinguishes itself not by means of a unique approach or new ideas, but by having the best singer in the genre, the golden-throated Victoria Lloyd. Despite moustache-twirling song titles like "Eventide," "Elysium," "Iolite," and, heaven knows, the title track, the music itself is refreshingly free of pretense. Synthesizers and drum programs, courtesy of Chris Ross, provide a soft bed for the shimmering guitars of Benjamin Fargen and for Lloyd's crystalline voice, and the melodies, while never exactly catchy, are always sweet enough to hold your attention and counteract the vague darkness of the music. There's more than a hint of the Cocteau Twins in the gently lovely "Love the Giver" and in the guitar part to "Time and the Maiden," while "Elysium" sounds a bit like a less pretentious This Mortal Coil or a much, much less pretentious Dead Can Dance. This is an impressive effort from a very promising young band. ~ Rick Anderson Claire Voyant: Victoria Lloyd (vocals); Benjamin Fargen (guitar); Chris Ross (keyboards, programming). Gothic/Pop

Claire Voyant albums. Claire Voyant is a band that has just about everything -- good tunes; a female singer with a sweet, luxuriant voice; textures that are dark without being oppressively gloomy; a great guitarist. The only thing missing from their music is compelling beats, which is why Time Again (which features remixes by various artists of tracks from the band's Time and the Maiden album) may be the best Claire Voyant album there is. Granted, not all of the remixes do more for the tunes in question than make them dancefloor ready -- Francis E. Preve's ho-hum trance mix of "Iolite" is a case in point -- but most of them do bring new and interesting ideas to the original material. Highlights include Front 242's muscular and eerie take on "Eventide," an excellent realization of "Mercy" by cut.rate.box that alternates club beats with a sort of modified trip-hop groove, and a bracing drum'n'bass mix of "Bittersweet" by Love Spirals Downwards. The ...

Claire Voyant music CDs. Personnel: Victoria Lloyd (vocals); Chris Ross (synthesizer, programming); Garin Casaleggio (drums).

Claire Voyant discography. Track Listing of songs: Heaven Knows; Her; Deep; Someday; Aqua; Wanderlust; Land And Sea; Morning Comes; Fear;