Jon Anderson

Olias Of Sunhillow: Remastered And Expanded Edition CHERRY RED

Yes singer’s solo classic foreshadowed later indie icons.

When Yes took a break after 1974’s Relayer tour to record solo albums, singer Jon Anderson ensconced himself in his garage studio and dreamed up a concept record about aliens travelling towards a new planet after a volcano decimates theirs. So far, so Yes. Nobody, however, thought Anderson would play everything on it himself, turning limited musicianship skills to harp, sitar, flute et al. Or that he’d make such a success of it that Vangelis’s record company would scold their man for guesting on keyboards (he didn’t). Or that Anderson would create an oxygenated, Oldfieldesque blend of light and shade, as if Yes had learned to breathe between relentless peaks.

Forty-five years on, the album sounds both slightly twee and indefatigably fresh, with phases like Solid Space or Moon Ra as cosmically avant-garde as cooler, canonical albums. The epiphany on this hi-res stereo upmix is how frequently one hears a blueprint for heyday

80s 4AD. That label’s original supremo Ivo makes no secret of his love of prog, and magical spells here seem uncannily Cocteau Twins, or Dead Can Dance, or even Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares. (Once you make the connection, you can’t stop.) Anderson says he’s been working on the sequel since 2004. ■■■■■■■■■■