LIFESIGNS

Seasoned prog sideman and friends hit new heights.

John Young may never have been a particularly prominent prog figure in his own right, but during his time playing with the likes of Asia, John Wetton, Jon Anderson, Greenslade et al, he seems to have absorbed some of their best qualities, which are once again on display on this album that combines the rich melodiousness of AOR and the emotional honesty of neo-prog with the intricate jazzinflected instrumental decoration of vintage prog.

EMOTIONAL HONESTY MEETS INSTRUMENTAL DECORATION.

Lifesigns’ 2017 album Cardington centred on a theme of adventure and hubris in aviation, and we’re in the air again for the 15-minute opener here, the title track that takes a drone’seye view of the land ‘as far as the eye can see’ with the bittersweet hook of a conclusion, ‘I could be so much better.’ There’s plenty to get stuck into here, from a wistful piano-based opening through anxious drum patterns, foreboding backing vocals and freewheeling synth and bass gymnastics, urgent guitar surfing across the top before we return to the yearning central vocal hook, softening into elegant violin skytrails and then getting tangled up in tempo-chopping angst and gnarly jazz guitar. And we’re still barely halfway through.

After the track fades out in a long coda of daydreaming violins, it’s time for a pace change. That comes in the shape of Gregarious, whose ebullient opening piano riff instantly recalls Supertramp, before a gentle chorus that could be a distant cousin of Comfortably Numb. Just as instant in its appeal is Ivory Tower, which builds upon a beguiling xylophone-style motif with a sweet love-lorn ballad. The plot thickens, though, as it picks up a head of speed five minutes in as despondency is replaced by confusion and anger, punched through with dramatic riff volleys. ‘I fall down… if I could be someone else,’ Young muses.

Shoreline again explores more noodlesome prog waters, but Young skilfully frame another earworm of a chorus, as he begs listeners to ‘save me’, before the 10-minute Fortitude

takes a more ruminative emotional journey, graced by a mesmerisingly melancholic keyboard solo, presumably played by Young, although ex-Strawb Dave Bainbridge also contributes both keys and guitar at various points on the record.

The most striking moment is still to come, though, as the final track (bar a late reprise of the opener) Last One Home

unfolds into a supremely uplifting power ballad, built around the story of a sailor adrift in a storm who ultimately survives in the knowledge safety is near. Bainbridge’s slow-burning guitar solo towards the end is another highlight among many on what is surely Lifesigns’ strongest album yet.