THE PARADOX TWIN

Berkshire proggies impress, with a little help from John Mitchell and friends.

Even the greatest debut albums tend to exhibit a dash of naivety, but The Paradox Twin have clearly been putting in the hours on their first full-length. Produced by John Mitchell and boasting cameos from Kim Seviour and Mitchell, The Importance Of Mr Bedlam is the kind of audacious, sprawling sonic travelogue that bands usually attempt on their second or third trip to the studio. Opener The Mir sets the band’s stall out with great elegance: a fluid and highly melodic blend of modern prog tropes, it owes a gentle debt to Marillion and Porcupine Tree but manages to wring freshness from those influences. The title track, redolent of Gazpacho in anguished mode, is a rumbling, propulsive psych-prog mantra, with a slow-build melody that delivers a startling Neal Morse-esque payoff. As the album progresses, the Twin’s ambition expands: Earthbound adds hissing synths and a dash of Opeth-like pomp to its 10-minute swirl of structural sleight of hand and muscular riffing, while Moonblood is an old school prog song realised via modern means. By the time you reach painfully pretty closer Gravity Time Dilation, your surrender to these bold ingénues will be complete.