Within ?Wintersongs? one will find a penchant for the creation of nostalgic spaces that transport one back to an idyllic, yet somewhat melancholic childhood. Plinth employs a wide variety of high to mid-range, chiming instruments and music box-like effects. Coming up through the mix one can occasionally hear the sounds of birds chattering, an old dusty recording of a woman singing, the crackle of the fireplace and the sound of footsteps. Plinth also employs clocks, teapots, trains, garden and a variety of other non-instrumental sound makers, which adds a great deal to the completion of a full space in which their sound is able to live and aids drastically in the bands intent to create a soundtrack to Lucy Boston?s children?s book ?The Children of Greene Knowe.?

This version of ?Wintersongs? contains an additional 15 minutes of new material, which is intended to complete the original cycle of songs. Unfortunately the eight-year difference in recording time makes for quite a disparity in sound, though both aspects operate very well individually. The newer tracks exhibit a more mature clarity, while the originals present a rather fascinating and somewhat na?ve approach to sound making. As one moves through the linear trajectory of the record the shift into the newer tracks, though subtle, represents a somewhat unsettling difference that the listener is forced to deal with. This is not to say that evidence of growth should not be present, but is more a point of questioning the manner in which these sounds are presented. This may have been a drastically more successful package if the two were split onto separate discs, making it a two 3? set as opposed to the single 5?, as the separation of the two states are then more readily evident. Attempting to reproduce a moment is fine, but one must always be aware that in attempting to recreate a moment one is in essence creating a new moment that may exists fine on its own, but when placed within the context of the old moment the nature of the reproduction becomes evident. 7/10 -- Cory Card (24 April, 2007)