Pagan Panic is "Best of 2018 #19"

on the Bird Is The Worm website

Thanks to Dave Sumner !!!

The lyricism of this recording borders on the epic, which in itself makes Pagan Panic pretty damn special.  But the casual ease in which it’s offered up makes for a contrast in expression that puts this recording on an entirely different plateau.  Some albums have an emotional impact of such strength that it elicits the feeling of having undergone a journey, of experienced an arc not unlike a storybook character.  The 2018 release from Manu Pékar is one such example, and one of the best to see the light of day in 2018.

Dave Sumner -2019- Best Album of 2018. #19

Pagan Panic is "Album of the Day"

on the Bird Is The Worm website

What I like about it:  I adore how immensely expressive this music is, even though it frequently adopts a laid back delivery… in that way a storyteller can instill a sense of the epic from the casual surroundings of a campfire setting and with a voice that matches the calmness of the flickering flames.  I like how the string quartet sometimes enhances the folk music qualities, sometimes adds a graceful chamber presence, and sometimes takes flight in a way that transcends both influences.  I like how this album exhaustively spans the gamut of emotions, and, yet, in the end, reaches its conclusion sooner than I’d like and leaves me wanting more.  I have been addicted to this recording from the very start, and that addiction hasn’t faded even a little bit.