Lumena will get under your skin. 　　 　　With Visions Of The Afterlife they’ve created an epic soundtrack in pop-length segments. It’s an inviting, melodic, multi-instrumental wash of electronica with ambient grooves, brimming with passion. That passion is spread onto a textured sound with laid-back, syncopated beats and evocative strings. 　　 　　Floating up, yet chained to the earth. 　　 　　The clean, pure notes of the piano hover like ghosts over the scratched, earthy synthesizers in tracks like A Golden Bowl, Rejection and Undeserved. Sometimes they’re joined by heavenly strings, and sometimes the broken reeds of pipes wail out like strangled cries. 　　 　　This album is trying to tell you something, but it doesn’t care if you just want to sit back and relax into the music instead. 　　 　　It’s cool with that. 　　 　　Visions Of The Afterlife changes mood many, many times on its tempo-driven musical journey. Sometimes it fills with jazz syncopations. Other times it dances the tango (Rejection) or goes marching (Apocalypse). But throughout, it’s united by tight beats and the leitmotif of the piano: the golden thread where Lumena’s virtuoso musicianship really comes through. 　　 　　All in all, Lumena keeps this remarkably simple for such apocalyptic concepts. Visions of the Afterlife knows what it is and doesn’t over-complicate. 　　 　　Key tracks include A Golden Bowl, and the title track, Visions Of The Afterlife. Throughout, the album recalls the piano poems of Erik Satie and soundtracks like 300 and American Beauty. 　　 　　Don’t just listen to a few tracks—take the whole journey with this album. 　　 　　Immortal sounds. 　　 　　Lumena have performed throughout South Africa and in London’s West End under another name. Classically-trained in strings and piano as well as experienced producers of electronic music, this is their first album as Lumena.