AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
GRANT MOON has a rummage down the back of the Prog sofa for the ones that nearly got away…
Björk, Billie Holiday and The Anchoress come to mind while listening to Kitty Whitelaw’s exquisite vocals on Siren (Antigen), the debut album from Sealionwoman, her duo with double bassist and knob-twiddler Tye McGivern. It’s Mercury Prize bait, this – haunting, monolithic soundscapes with roots in Selkie, their two-handed theatrical show inspired by Scottish folklore. The performance art element and McGivern’s broad-minded experiments make for an album whose atmosphere is dreich but never dull.
To warmer climes, and Chilean proggers Aisles offer up new EP Live From Estudio
Del Sur (Presagio), featuring in-studio performances of songs from their latest and finest studio album Hawaii, and 4.45 and The Yearning. These neo anthems glide smoothly through melodic and metallic moments, Sebastián Vergara’s vocals both sweet and operatic as ever. For the full effect, watch the high-quality films of these sessions on Aisles’ YouTube site, where fingers fly, brows furrow, and beards impress.
Another multimedia curio comes from British composer Warren Greveson, whose new album Voyager (Market Square) was fuelled by his enduring fascination for that 40-year space mission. As you might expect given the subject, space-aged synths evoke Vangelis, Wakeman and Jarre on pieces with solid-gold prog titles like Journey To Jupiter and Around Ganymede. It’s all accomplished, pleasant stuff, best explored alongside its absorbing 70-minute companion film, Hello From Planet Earth.
German duo Noekk are usually tagged as doom-meisters, but their new seveninch single, Carol Stones And Elder Rock (Prophecy), suggests a change of focus may be in store on their upcoming new album. The lilting acoustics of Pan, Loss and A Vision are like shafts of sylvan light here, but there’s crunch and menace in the smouldering Archaic Tune, so maybe we’re not out of their dark woods just yet. Norway’s Manes are back with Slow Motion Death Sequence (Debemur Morti), a masterclass in how to blend electro and metal textures together (a trick that eludes many mid-level bands in the genre). It’s beautifully produced, packed with good songs, and has the blackest of hearts. ‘Running in circles… it’s all for the worst,’ sings Asgeir Hatlen, who, as ever, gives good broken. Their compatriot Eirik Søfteland was runner-up on Norway’s version of Pop Idol in 2013, but don’t hold that against him. His new project Sipher mark their debut with Atlas (Apollon), drawing on Queen-style classic rock, lighter prog metal and symphonic rock. It’s catchy and crafted if pretty conventional stuff, with Søfteland a capable and likeable presence as a fullthroated singer and big-armed drummer. Lastly, guitarist Robert Jürjendal’s Five Seasons ensemble return with an immaculate self-titled album on Albany Records. It’s a beautiful, beguiling set with a Renaissance/ early classical sensibility, woven with vibraphone, French horn, lulling acoustic guitars and Sara Fiil’s crystal-clear soprano.
Gluck meets Hackett, perhaps?