The first thing I thought of while listening to Agnus' Pinturas y Expresiones (Pictures and Expressions) is that this is what Jethro Tull could have sounded like in their folk years if not for Ian Anderson's pompousness.

Just to be clear; I do not refer to his performance on those records. That was stellar. I am not having a go at those records either. They are mostly great, too.

But the attitude...

Well, musically, Pinturas y Expresiones is quite similar to what Tull did. But it's also a very humble, down to earth record. I'd even say, normal, for a lack of better word.

Nobody is trying to be bigger than they really are here. And that is quite an achievement considering that on this record, Agnus is actually ten people.

It's not a small group where egos are easy to control. It'd be so easy for someone to usurp the absolute power or play band politics. But none of that shows on this album.

In fact, Pinturas y Expresiones is such a lively, light, and joyful record.

It's still prog, of course. But there is plenty of folk and even flashes of medieval minstrel music (see why brought up Tull?)

The music flows naturally between sections. Prog passages turn into folk, then briefly switch to medieval minstrel songs, or become a choral intermission, and even turn into a traditional song at times.

But the thing is; none of this feels rushed. I really apprecaite that not a single theme or motif disappears before it gets the time to fully play out or tell its story.

Even if the band serves a tiny intermission like a short vocal break in Siglo XXI, it's exactly where it needed to be and remains for precisely how it long it should have stayed.

Then, the are the voices. Agnus is quite an usual ensamble in that every member of the band sings. Interstingly, the band treats voices like instruments, often employing them to introduce and carry folk-inspired tunes, rather than sing comlex harmonies.

Most vocal lines follow single melody, just presented with layers of voices. Only one voice sings actual lyrics, if there are any. But most of the time, vocals are wordless. Just sounds, forming beautiful melodies.

My only complain with Pinturas y Expresiones is the mix.

I get an impression than the band (or the mixing engineer) tried to use it to push their artistic vision further and build a narrative with the mix.

And sometimes it works. In the opening movement of the title track, for example, flute plays a call and response with itself (there is only one flutist in the band, after all,) and the passage has been mixed to replicate that. The call appears in one speaker, response in the other, and the culmination in the center. This makes sense.

But in the second movement of the same track, drums suddenly move from the right channel to the center. I can only speculate that it was done to emphasize the rhythmic focus of the passage. But it didn't work. It just distracted me from the music. Luckily, there aren't many similar tricks used but you do notice them when they appear.

Lastly, this is an archival reissue. The album was originally recorded in 1980, and the original source tape shows some signs of wear. In the same second movement I mentioned above, the right channel disappears completely for a couple of seconds.

Naturally, I don't write this as a criticism. Such issues are only to be expected with archival tapes. What's more, to some degree, they even add a nice touch to the release.