"The first track "Keep On" clocks in at almost 11 minutes and truly feels like a defining piece, nearly anticipating this album's main sound and theme, and capturing a fitting snapshot of its essence. The mellow organ textures, enticing percussion work and melancholic saxophone leads are able to mesh perfectly, extracting natural beauty out of turbulent feelings of loneliness and depression. The song allows for plenty of improvisation but successfully avoids becoming meandering: instead, it feels as if every single note is absolutely essential to its complexion. It is a definite standout on a project of many highs, and, like its opener, so appears a vast majority of Antiphon: loose but focused, and an exercise of almost subtle yet intense catharsis.
Elsewhere, he tries his hand at rapping on "4th October" to great results, and disrupts eventual feelings of excessive nodding off by introducing spontaneous guitar solos on an otherwise collected "Kyoki." But it's bass player Kaya Thomas-Dyke's singing contribution on "Breathe" that rises among this album's finest moments. The song sees her quasi-angelic voice create an encapsulating melody which shines through in a magnificent chorus, equal parts intense and memorable, only for it all to travel back to Antiphon's main territory about 4 minutes in - as vivid saxophones and a grand string section take turns in creating an outstanding outro.
The record is assuredly abundant in highlights but does its trick even better when heard in its entirety. Antiphon captures a defining time for Alfa Mist both musically and personally, and represents a tremendous leap for this young promising artist. One can only hope it's only a sign of even better things to come. Perfect for a late listen, it sees him refine his craft while opening up artistic roads for him to hopefully explore even deeper."
- sputnikmusic.com
