Now here's a group that is no slouch when it comes to marketing and promoting their work while at the same time remaining true to their artistic vision rather then sell out to be like everyone else. While they could have gone off and put out bleepy dance anthems or ripped off The Sisters of Mercy and got a nice little following, Andreas Gross put out the atmospheric Sit-Back-And-Listen sounds of their hearts and to pass the word around, make some very nice music videos to post around the web and send out vinyl copies of their new album to reviewers in advance (Thanks guys!). Lesser bands, take note. This is the example you want to follow when looking to make a name for yourselves.

When I first got this album to preview (Current time of writing being 16th April 2011), I was a tad wary of what I had received. Their last album We like Ghost Girls didn't sound like it was their best effort after multiple listens and Autumn Inventors is their sixth album and the ensemble is roughly in a genre where a band could typically expect to produce five studio albums during their recording career and then peter out of original material. Fortunately though, I was proven wrong as Autumn Inventors is the best release I've heard from them to date. Like a twenty-first century This Mortal Coil, they demonstrate their mastery of steady, complex sounds and ideas and fine-tune them for a fluid aural experience overlapped by a melancholy atmosphere.

"Shady Fortune Hunters" gets us off to a rather low-key start, as it takes a while to limber up before making a solid impact and continues at its own brisk pace. "The Sun" is a superb cover of a Soap & Skin song, proving that Andreas Gross have their own subtle way of defying convention by covering an artist much younger then themselves and with a tune that would be unfamiliar to many people (At least to many outside of Mainland Europe) when tradition would suggest that you cover songs by bands with established histories and who's reputations and careers precede your own. "Oberon" sheds the languid lounging in favour of some electro beats mixed with traditional goth piano synths and underlying bristled guitars.

"Ahasver" is possibly the best song of the album, languishing beautifully in it's own sense of misanthropy that is driven from the back seat buy some subtle distorted guitar and softly spoken percussion with vocals that just want to make you reach out and hug the singer. "There will never be a revolution/everything will stay the same" rings untrue since the uprisings in North Africa, but it is how I feel about certain elements of alternative culture. "There will never be a new sensation/everything will stay the same." Yes dear. And I bet whoever's fault it is wasn't someone you liked in the first place. "At The Edge" is a short ambient track that is about as close to summarising and defining of the Andreas Gross sound I've heard so far with patient guitars and relaxed drums, shrouded by atmospheric synths.

"Black String Girl" is a tune to sigh too as you try and accept the emptiness of the world while explaining your actions in the hope that you will be accepted by others while at the same time being very easy listening. "Silent Halls" sounds something like if you took a very ordinary Cocteau Twins and gave them a garnishing of Heavy Metal and new technology to play with. "1847" gazes upward into the sky while falling into itself, wishing for another time but I'm afraid I can't share its sentiment as for Ireland the year 1847 was when the Irish potato famine was at its worst, which is in itself another chapter in the Irish book "Why We Hate the British". Whatever about the past, at least now you can expect to eat well. "Heart Parasite" rounds it off with a dreamy primarily piano piece that goes down smooth and easy like a good drink.

In the interest of refining their sound while developing their songwriting, Andreas Gross have made their most accessible album so far. If their previous album We like Ghost Girls was their Darkwave album and Hail to the Employee, the one previous to that was their Trip-Hop work, then this is their Dreampop album, one that engages the listener but remains friendly and intimate without being abrasive.