The weather’s turned grim, but hopefully these tunes will acts as rays of sunshine to brighten up your life…
EDITOR - JERRY EWING
TesseracT - Messenger
We’ve been icing with their new album Polaris for a while now, and the overall sound, exemplified by Messenger, is of a band that have really grown into their own skin. Dar one suggest that’s due to the reappearance of vocalist Dan Tompkins in TesseracT’s ranks? Either way, it’s a bigger, proggier sound from TesseracT than ever before. A winner all the way…
DEPUTY EDITOR - HANNAH MAY KILROY
Purson - The Contract
One of the great things about the announcement of the Prog Awards nominees every year is that it reminds us all of the brilliant music out there that we might have forgotten about. Purson’s debut may have been released two years ago but the folky, flares-sporting London psychedelic rockers are up for this year’s Vanguard Award and have a new album coming out this year. While you wait, give this a spin!
ART EDITOR - RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER
Earthside - The Closest I’ve Come
As soon as I saw the band’s name, I had a mental image of myself floating high above our pale blue dot looking majestic in the great expanse of space. And on hearing this track, from their forthcoming debut album A Dream In Static, my initial thought was amplified by the melodic, nuanced bell-like guitar tones of a group of musicians firmly in the same camp as Animals As Leaders and Scale the Summit but, like my floating space-suited self, removed from the drabness of day to day experiences to give us their widescreen cinematic take on the world. Which is strange as sound doesn’t travel in space so I’d have to hear it elsewhere. Ah that’ll be earth side then
NEWS EDITOR - NATASHA SCHARF
Coppelius - Schöne Augen
Last week, I was watching the eccentric Coppelius in Germany and their crazy performance is still stuck in my head. One of the stand-out songs from their set was Schöne Augen, which our German intern tells me translates as Beautiful Eyes. It’s taken from their album Tumult! and is a bonkers blend of chamber jazz, folk and gothic metal set against a steampunk backdrop.
REVIEWS EDITOR - GRANT MOON
Chon - Echo
This San Diego foursome have an uncanny knack for blending XTC-style songwriting smarts with dizzying, jazzy math-rock guitar lines. If that means they fall between two stools for most audiences, it also means they land right on our turf. If you have time, let their YouTube channel play out from this tasty piece - there’s plenty to tantalise in the run-up to debut album Grow, out on Sumerian on September 25th. They’re touring the UK with The Fall Of Troy this month, with a stop at that post-rock Woodstock ArcTanGent on the August 21st. This mellifluous, knotty stuff might see them steal the show…
INTERN - LAURA-SOPHIE PETZOLD
Haken - The Cockroach King
One of the best songs from this London prog metal bands third album The Mountain. After a comical start it drops to a much darker and heavier sound – just the right song to start your weekend. An absolute feel good song – and a highlight of their Ramblin’ Man gig!
