MISST.EU!

This Belgian harmony group constitutes ‘five voices – four misses and a mister.’ Having represented Flanders at the 2017 Ferrara Buskers Festival in Italy with a remit of ‘somewhat forgotten folk songs from all over this world,’ you can hear MISST's pure a cappella roots on the beautiful final tracks of this debut album, ‘Libera Me’ and ‘Verlangen’.

They sing in Flemish, French and 14 other languages, celebrating the ‘rich cultural diversity of Europe’ while adding instrumentation to contrast the traditional and the modern. A plethora of influences coalesce: added uilleann pipes lend ‘Repülj Madar’ and ‘Levame’ a Gaelic feel; on ‘Sensualitat’, the beautiful harmonies and affecting lead vocal are given a light, jazzy backing of double bass, brushed drums and muted trumpet; male vocalist Jan Van Rossem's prominent guitar suggests the caustic touch of Justin Adams on ‘Este Linho’ and the rousing ‘Ergen Deda’. After the a cappella introduction to the opening track and third single, ‘Sur l'Eau’, the initial taste of electric guitar and drums is somewhat jolting and the song's climax sounds like Finnish folk group Värttinä meets Fleetwood Mac. Such occasional incongruous moments convince less than when these ‘four misses and a mister’ sing simply in stirring unison.