This, sadly, will be the final album for Nova Cascade, the group that came to be from conversations arising out of an internet chat room back in 2010. It became a series of collaborations which resulted in the making of five excellent albums, including this latest and final instalment, ‘Box Man’. The new album sees originator and prime mover Dave Hillborne exercise his penchant for a more ambient and introspective version of progressive music. The origins of ‘Box Man’ date back some twenty-nine years to an idea that Dave had that he has now managed to fully realise.
The album consists of seven tracks, one of which, The Choice is of an epic length of twenty-eight minutes. This Extended length gives ample time for its themes to surface and connect with the listener. The music is very ambient and would appeal to folks who enjoy the gently evolving music of bands like Tangerine Dream or Camel. The song opens with a stirring violin line from Nina Chikviladze, who has stepped in to replace the much missed Eric Bouilette. The violin part captures the age, essence and spirit of Eric in a most gentle and respectful manner. The track is in 8 sections that combine to make a singular piece of music. It impressively strong, Dave and his fellow contributors, Colin Powell (guitars) and Dave Flick (bass) have crafted a lush expansive and warm soundscape with Nina’s violin adding significantly to the recurring melody lines to make for a very impressive opening track to the album. A soaring guitar solo from Colin Powell oozes effortlessly over the song before the keyboards return and things move on in a different manner with sequenced sounds utilised to see a semblance of pace and urgency introduced. The guitar then returns, playing an almost eastern sounding guitar line that fits well with Dave’s keyboards. There is another shift in pace to a more upbeat segment before a quieter more ambient feel returns. It is all very ambient with lots of space in the sound making for a real masterclass in musical composition and sound scales and this track has them all in spades.
Smoking Gun which features Dave’s vocals, which put me in mind of amore hesitant Feargal Sharkey, over which we hear a strident guitar line. The song also has a recurring keyboard motif which is very memorable indeed. The melodic sounds of If You Don’t Succeed benefit from a prominent bass line and part. This is an instrumental of different moods and tones with some further splendid and very tasteful guitar lines and fills, all underpinned by the excellent bass of Dave Fick. The use of whistling also graces this track and makes for a great, atmospheric piece of music.The next track is Sentry which has sound effects of war and battles and has suitably sombre lyrics as a war survivor recalls the events that still traumatise him each night. He is thankful to be alive but has to live with the dreadful memories of those evil days, it is a truly engrossing piece of music.
As It Was & Is is instrumental in nature but, his time, the violin carries the melody as Dave’s keyboard play an excellent piano line. The whole band then join in and make a great noise together before the piano melody returns, this time with fluttering synths before a fine, surging guitar line is introduced, to which bass and drums are also added. A really powerful statement. Box Man, the title track, has prominent organ parts and a rippling piano line along with a bubbling bass and more great vocals from Dave. The song is a comment on someone who has fallen on hard times and to whom life has not been kind, so much that he finds himself on the streets. The album closes with The End Of The Line, another instrumental and quite a sprightly one too, with more great bass work and good guitar. The keyboards are wonderful evocative and ever changing in tone and sound. It’s a great way to close the album.
If ‘Box Man’ does turn out to be the final album from Nova Cascade then they have most certainly gone out on a remarkably high note with such a strong and rewarding release.
Released 21st April, 2025.
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