Recent times for me have seen a renaissance of worthwhile progressive music emerging from France and especially from the excellent promotional work of Bad Dog Promotions. We’ve already reviewed Pryzme and The Raging Project, now we have this Prog/AOR crossover from SSB – Sloane Square Band.
Sloane Square Band hail from France and is the brain child of French prog musician Claude Segalin, who was a noted prog musician in the 1970’s. He started making music again in 2017 when he met a bassist who had played in the band Guelf with him in the 1970’s. This meeting inspired Claude to have another go and to write and create some new music again and ‘Thoughts’ is his second release under the SSB banner.
The album is only about 43 minutes in length with just nine tracks of mainly gentler music with a definite Pink Floyd type sound, especially in the guitar solo. This means the average track length is between four to five minutes and nothing here overstays it’s welcome, making the album is a really good listen, not totally earth moving or essential but it has much to commend it.
Within its tracks, apart from the Floyd influences, I detect distinct echoes of United Progressive Fraternity and Unitopia especially with ecological and environmental concerns (very much a staple part of UPF’s DNA). In addition, the vocals aren’t a million miles away from Mark Trueck’s vocal style either.
As I say, most of the album consists of slower paced tracks more reliant on atmosphere rather than bombast, although the track Fishes is different in that it is far more traditional sound wise with a driving beat and powerful guitars. This one really kicks ass and I really like it, there’s excellent Bass from Alix Guglielmi here too. My Fathers is a sensitive and extremely sincere expression of both respect and thanks to Claude’s father, which touches the soul with its warmth and sincerity.
Hiroshima is another strong track and possibly my favourite of the those on offer. It features current Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and the vocalisations of Joniece Johnson. The track begins with gentle acoustic guitar which contrasts strongly with the darkness of the lyrics. This has delicate flute from and strings amidst everything that is going on. The piece also has great guitar work and some sensitive synth lines and the soaring vocals give the track a definite Pink Floyd vibe and sound. Quite a remarkable track all told and probably the album standout along with Fishes. I Will Never has a strong chorus and melody throughout, the guitar pattern is especially familiar to these ears. There is a great vocal performance from Canadian vocalist Richard Groulx, indeed his vocals on the whole album are very fine indeed. The mixtures of styles and approaches from soft prog to AOR works very well.
Overall this album has a lot to commend it. It may be short and perhaps lack a good lengthier piece but what is here is most certainly of good quality and, whilst it may not be utterly essential, I feel that those who listen will find very much to enjoy within its grooves.
Mention must also be made of the excellent sound garnered by Steve Forward (Sound Engineer) who has made an album of crisp sounding tracks with excellent separation and space between the instruments, it really is a joy to listen to.The digital cover is very Marillion in style and is a good fit for the music it conveys.
Released 21st June, 2024.
Order from bandcamp here:
https://ftf-music.bandcamp.com/album/sloane-square-band-thoughts