The A Cappella world is abuzz with the good news: the release of "The Middle of Life," The Real Group's much-anticipated new CD. Even better, "Life" is all new, all originals, all studio and all in English! Anders Edenroth writes the music and lyrics to "Prime Time Blues," a funky, saucy romp that features the title phrase and some state-of-the-art vocal percussion and mock horns, his "Words" is a lyrical, rhythmic masterpiece, "Friendship" has Anders singing a mellow, soaring lead, and his "The Grass Grows Greener" is an instant jazz standard with his voice adding a muted, precise tone. Peder Karlsson writes the understated, bluesy "Mister Father," his "Are You Coming To Me" is a salsa-flavored fiesta tune featuring Katarina on lead, "A Quiet Song" features Peder's slow, bluesy voice, and "Gota," featuring Peder and Katarina, has a simple, meandering melody that builds in intensity to symphonic proportions. Margareta Jalkeus writes "Spring Is Coming" and has a nice, soaring solo riff that becomes a dreamy scat sequence, and has a moody, mysterious lead on her "My Hidden World." Katarina Henryson writes "I Tried," shares writing credits with Anders on the ironic, pop-ish "A Perfect Life," and her bluenote alto on her "Given" is sweetly profound. So much talent here - we find ourselves listening to this CD again and again to appreciate just how far the a cappella envelope has been pushed, and comparing the genius and musical focus of the individual composers. Simply put, "The Middle of Life" is a masterpiece, an unexpected gift from Sweden to be unwrapped and savored on many levels!