THRESHOLD return with their 12th full length album ‘Dividing Lines’, which is set to be released on 18th November via Nuclear Blast Records.
‘Dividing Lines’ marks the second album since the return of former vocalist Glynn Morgan, who reunited with the band on their previous effort ‘Legends Of The Shires’ (2017). A darker album than ‘Legends Of The Shires’, the band have described it as “Legends’ darker, moodier older brother”.
Get your first taste of the album with the single ‘Silenced’, which comes with a stunning new video.
Richard West comments on the song: “Silenced is about how we seem to be heading towards less voices, less artists, less venues, less platforms where everyone can be heard. People seem so scared to speak out or debate anything anymore. I know I sound old but I miss the good old days! When freedom of speech goes then society is lost.”
The video was filmed by Sitcom Soldiers in the UK who also filmed the band’s last video ‘Small Dark Lines’. The video portrays a boy coming up against a threatening foe, only defeating them by summoning a mighty scream (unsilenced).
Esthesis is a progressive & alternative rock project formed and led by French multi-instrumentalist Aurélien Goude (music, lyrics, keyboards, vocals, guitars, bass and other stuff). The current line up is composed of three other musicians : Baptiste Desmares (lead guitar), Marc Anguill (bass) and Arnaud Nicolau (drums).
Esthesis music is characterized by many influences (british rock, film score, jazz, ambient, metal, electronic music…) and primarily based on emotion and ambiences. After a first sold out EP in 2019 (“Raising Hands”), Esthesis released a highly anticipated debut album in November 2020 (“The Awakening”) in two CD editions, digital and streaming.
Their first tour at the end of 2021 was very well received by the audience, with a dedicated and synchronized light show for each gig. “The Awakening” has been acclaimed by many rock magazines around the world and Esthesis won the Prog Magazine Reader’s Poll in December 2020 (“best unsigned band 2020”).
A new single, Place Your Bets, was released on 15th June 2022, with a brand new music video available on Youtube:
Place Your Best will appear on the band’s second album, due to be released later this year.
SiX By SiX is the exciting new trio formed by Ian Crichton (Saga), Nigel Glockler (Saxon) & Robert Berry (3; Emerson, Berry, Palmer), and their eponymous debut album is set for release on 19th August 2022 via InsideOutMusic/Sony Music.
This hugely accomplished trio of musicians is also pleased to announce their first single ‘Yearning to Fly’, and you can watch the video now here:
The roots of SiX By SiX can be traced back several decades to when Glockler and Berry were together as part of Yes guitarist Steve Howe’s continuation of the band GTR. Then there’s the Asia connection, where Crichton and Glockler contributed to sessions and recordings, while Berry was the link for his guitarist friend Pat Thrall joining that band.
Time marches on, paths cross and fate brings these three musicians together, born from a conversation with an industry insider in the UK who connected Ian Crichton in the Toronto area with Robert Berry outside San Francisco, who in turn reached Glockler at his home on the south coast of England.
Powered by Glockler’s dynamic drumming, the result is an expansive guitar-driven pallet, paired sonically with the unique flavour of the Crichton/Berry songwriting collaboration, which they are very excited to present on this debut album.
Ian Crichton comments: “Throughout my career, I’ve been very selective about what to get involved in outside Saga and when opportunities have arisen, I have said ‘no’ far more often than I have said ‘yes’. When Robert’s manager contacted me in 2020 and explained what Robert was seeking to do creatively and how my guitar could be central to the musical vision, I was intrigued. Now it’s over 18 months and many Zoom calls later, but crucially Robert, Nigel and I have also spent plenty of time together at Robert’s base in northern California. We’re three experienced players from three different countries, and with our six hands, we’re here to break the rock music mould. SiX By SiX is a band that we’ve built together and nurtured into a unique style that I’m very proud of.”
Nigel Glockler continues: “When Robert and Ian first approached me about becoming part of this band, I felt very honoured to be asked and absolutely thrilled to be working with a couple of guys I’ve admired for a long time. Robert and I first met during GTR days and we’ve kept in touch ever since. My path has crossed with Ian many times on the road over the years, so once the three of us got together in California it was like a meeting of old friends. Musically it immediately clicked and working within the framework of a three piece allows us to branch out in all directions and really push ourselves. I’m best known as the Saxon drummer, but I’ve always been a massive fan of progressive rock – Genesis and PFM are amongst my favourite bands! SiX By SiX is just the beginning of an exciting journey – bring it on!!”
Robert Berry adds: “After working with the genius of Keith Emerson and losing that musical partnership in 2016 following Keith’s death, I faced a daunting question: whether to bring down the curtain creatively or seek something inspiring which would reach new musical heights. My intuition was to lean into a dramatically more guitar oriented direction. But which guitarist is as impressive as Keith was as a keyboardist? At my manager’s suggestion, an incredible meeting of minds, style and future goals was struck with Ian Crichton. Was it luck, timing or destiny? I think it was all three because 3 is my lucky number. Ian and I were determined to keep this a 3 piece band (there’s that number again) and needed a drummer with a similar mindset and who is a solid, heavy hitter. My friend Nigel Glockler was the perfect fit. And with this extraordinary combination of friendship, musicality, and humor, a Brit, a Canadian and an American have come together as the brand new band SiX By SiX.”
Ian Crichton is best known as one of the founding members of Saga, alongside his brother Jim. Saga went on to sell roughly 10 million albums world-wide and continue to perform around the world. As the driving force behind SiX By SiX, Ian takes a cunning turn, in assembling another potent band but one that focuses on his guitar prowess. This time with established players, each with a celebrated past, refined skills, and unlimited potential.
Nigel Glockler began his career in 1980 as the drummer for the British band Krakatoa. In 1981 he found an opportunity with singer Toyah. By the end of the year, he joined metal legends, Saxon. Except for two brief absences, Nigel has been behind his massive drum kit as an integral part of Saxon ever since.His powerhouse drumming is the engine that drives SiX By SiX’s songs forwards relentlessly.
Robert Berry first gained international attention with San Francisco-based Hush, releasing well-received recordings and then touring the USA. In the mid-1980s Berry’s first solo album garnered positive reviews in the most influential trade publications and attracted the attention of several major labels. At the suggestion of one of those labels, Robert moved to the UK to work with guitarist Steve Howe (of Yes fame) along with drummer Nigel Glockler in an effort to revitalize GTR. When GTR stalled, Robert partnered with British rock legends Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer to form ‘3’. With Emerson and Palmer, Robert achieved a top ten charting single and toured the USA. Robert’s melodic sensibilities complement Ian’s extraordinary guitar and Nigel’s signature drumming perfectly.
‘Collisions’, is the coming together of neo-classical composer and film composer Tom Hodge (Max Cooper, Floex), post-rock composer Ciaran Morahan (Codes In The Clouds, VLMV) and composer and drummer, Ollie Howell. Their musical backgrounds can be heard colliding throughout their self-titled debut offering (released 9th September via Naïve/Believe), creating a new symbiotic relationship with one another. Fusing together their respective styles, they have created an exciting blend that feels expansive and immersive, almost cinematic, whilst still capturing the energy and thrill of a live performance.
To mark the official album announcement, Collisions are pleased to share the epic ‘II’, the first single to be taken from the album. “This was the first piece composed for the record. With a chord pattern taken from the original writing session with an acoustic band, Tom arranged the track and took it into an unconscious electronic direction. The track has the constant idea of movement with bouncy piano melodies and arpeggiated synthesisers incorporated throughout. The track is climaxed by saturated acoustic drums and reverb soaked clarinet complimenting the track’s overall ethereal feel,” says Morahan.
Hodge and Morahan first met in 2009 when Hodge produced a remix for Morahan’s band Codes In The Clouds through London label Erased Tapes. 10 years after their initial introduction, sharing stages and collaborating on other music, they decided to create a record together. Howell’s arrival pushed the project further into a genre-fluid space but a sonically-focused one, resulting in a unique collision of emotive piano, clarinet, ambient analog synths and jazz-infused acoustic drums. The resulting collisions produce a sound that manages to both show individual strengths whilst creating a truly cohesive and immersive sonic landscape. The coming together of their musical identities has formed a strange musical alchemy whilst finding space to be truly authentic to itself. Where there is collision, there is inevitably motion.
The album explores both these spaces in different ways, moving between ‘Collisions’ tracks and ‘Motion’ tracks; the Motions having a freer and more exploratory feel in comparison, finding their way through more spacious musical ideas and searching for newness in this fluid space. The immersive nature of the music is also coupled with a unique visual identity, created by Cath Elliot, through both the live performance and within digital mediums. Each individual part of the music creates a series of seemingly-living particles, colliding and reacting in real time; constantly moving, evolving and pulsating as the music shifts. These generative shapes then morph effortlessly into particle-based metaverse versions of the band members themselves, emerging and performing live as if appearing from the ever-moving ether. This pioneering generative treatment allows the music itself to actually create the striking visual identity of the project in real time, creating a truly limitless series of particle collisions. It is clear from his past records with luminaries such as Max Cooper and Floex that Hodge is no stranger to coruscating sonic exploration, but he has mainly spent the last couple of years on high-profile film and TV projects.
Multi-platinum selling English supergroup ASIA recently announced they are to release ASIA In Asia – Live At The Budokan, Tokyo, 1983, as a Deluxe box set containing: 2LP, 2xCD, 40 page 12” book, Blu-ray video, printed memorabilia and ‘ASIA’ pin badge, through BMG Records on 10th June 2022. Also available as a 2LP Gatefold, 1CD and Digital Formats.
Here’s a link to a live performances of Sole Survivor and Here Comes The Feeling from the concert:
ASIA, Geoff Downes (The Buggles & YES, keyboards & backing vocals), Steve Howe (YES, guitars & backing vocals) and Carl Palmer(Emerson, Lake & Palmer, drums) with special guest Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, bass & lead vocals), visited Japan at the end of two years of touring to promote their phenomenally successful eponymous debut album (1982) and the follow-up Alpha (1983).
The second of three shows at the historic Budokan arena in Tokyo, on 6th December 1983, would make history as first live broadcast between Japan and MTV in America, an amazing achievement for its time. This performance has previously only been available on VHS. The concert featured some of ASIA’s biggest and most memorable tracks including, Time Again, Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor, Wildest Dreams and the global hit single Heat Of The Moment.
Greg Lake stepped in, at short notice, following the sudden departure of ASIA’s founder member John Wetton ahead of the Japanese dates. Despite a short period for Lake to learn the songs, and some changes to the arrangements to accommodate Lake’s different vocal range, the Japanese shows were hailed a great success.
Carl Palmer was proud of his former ELP bandmate for performing exceptionally in the situation. “Greg Lake did a great job jumping into John’s shoes. So many songs to sing, he did it so well. It was impressive.”
Geoff Downes, too, was pleased with the event, especially given the massive undertaking. “It was a grand and sumptuous affair. The stage was the iconic ‘A-frame’ shape we had for the US tour. I think we pulled it off admirably in the end. There were some good people behind us: crew, lighting designers, cameramen and backing singers, it was quite a production.”
“The show was an important global commitment,” says Steve Howe, “so we had to rise to the occasion, which we did, with Greg’s help. We couldn’t have done it without him, for sure.”
For Downes, the release stands as a testament to the band’s resilience. “It deserves its place in the Asia catalogue. Aside from its musical strengths, it demonstrates the level of professionalism that we have always striven to bring to the ASIA name.”
This newly packaged box set includes: · Exclusive new artwork by Roger Dean
· Colour vinyl 2LP of original MTV Telecast concert audio, remixed 2022 from the master tapes, with two previously unreleased, post broadcast encore tracks
· 2 x audio CD:
· Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, MTV satellite telecast concert (6 December 1983, USA time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes by Matt Wiggins and Rick Nelson
· Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, previous night’s show (6 December 1983, Japanese Time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes by Hiroki Furutani
· Audio-visual Blu-ray of restored original broadcast concert with 2022 remixed audio (Duration: 1hr 20 mins), plus restored original concert laserdisc featuring alternate camera angles (Duration: 1hr)
. 40 page, deluxe 12” book with rare and unseen band photos, memorabilia and extensive new sleeve notes new quotes from the original band members
· New, bespoke metal and enamel ‘ASIA’ logo pin badge
· Printed memorabilia:
· 2 x exclusive new Roger Dean artwork A3 posters
· 2 x reproduced live broadcast original concert tickets
· Replicated, matt laminated original AAA backstage pass
· Original concert VHS advert
· 3 x glossy 8” x 5” rare band photos
ASIA In Asia – Live At The Budokan, Tokyo, 1983 Tracklist (2 x LPs, CD1 & CD2)
1. Introduction From Mark Goodman (MTV)
2. Time Again
3. The Heat Goes On
4. Here Comes The Feeling
5. Eye To Eye
6. Steve Howe Solo (Sketches In The Sun)
7. Only Time Will Tell
8. Open Your Eyes
9. Geoffrey Downes Solo (Ihiri – The Setting Sun / Bolero)
10. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
11. Wildest Dreams
12. Carl Palmer Solo
13. Heat Of The Moment
14. Sole Survivor
15. Cutting It Fine
16. Daylight
ASIA In Asia – Live At The Budokan, Tokyo, 1983 is available as a Deluxe box set containing: 2LP, 2xCD, 40 page 12” book, Blu-ray video, printed memorabilia and ‘ASIA’ pin badge, as well as 2LP, 1CD & Digital formats on 10th June 2022 through BMG Records. Pre-order here: https://asiaband.lnk.to/budokanPR
About ASIA
ASIA was a true rock ‘supergroup’ bringing together the talents of John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes and Steve Howe who had already amassed tens of millions of record sales with their collective bands of the 70s.
Leaving behind their progressive roots, ASIA embraced the commercial FM rock sound that dominated US airwaves and took that, and the new MTV video channel, by storm. The single Heat Of The Moment was a world-wide monster smash and their eponymous 1982 debut album spent an incredible 9 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as ASIA became the biggest selling album of the year and world tour dates sold out.
A second album, Alpha, was released in 1983. The four original members reconvened in 2006 for a world tour, to celebrate the 25thanniversary of that incredible success, and the album Phoenix followed.
While the members were still heavily involved in other projects, they came together again to record Omega in 2010 and XXX in 2012, both albums were acclaimed by their faithful fans and supported by more world tours.
Steve Howe stepped back from ASIA to concentrate on his work with YES and was absent for 2014’s Gravitas. Following this tour came the news of John Wetton’s treatment for cancer, a fight he sadly lost in 2017.
Big Big Train have recruited Alberto Bravin as lead vocalist following the tragic death of David Longdon in November 2021.
Based in Trieste in Italy, Bravin’s career includes performing around 200 shows with progressive rock legends PFM between 2015 and January 2022, both in Italy and internationally, singing lead and backing vocals and playing keyboards.
Alberto Bravin says: “I am extremely honoured to have the opportunity to join Big Big Train. I was already a huge BBT fan and am looking forward to play my part in taking this great band forward while also honouring the memory of David Longdon.”
Big Big Train bassist and founder Gregory Spawton comments: “Before Covid-19 hit, Nick D’Virgilio and I had both seen Alberto perform with PFM. We were very impressed with his abilities as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist and therefore approached him earlier this year.
“We know that David is irreplaceable and we miss him deeply both musically and personally,” Spawton continues. “We were very clear that we didn’t want to bring someone into the band who would seek to mimic David; that just felt fundamentally wrong. Instead we wanted someone who could do justice with their own musical skills and personality to the songs that David sang for Big Big Train as well as being able to help to drive the band forwards. From his first audition singing some BBT classic songs and subsequently his work on some new material that we’re working on, we’re confident that we’ve found the right person in Alberto.”
“Aside from Alberto’s great voice and all round musical skills, it was also vital for us to find the right personal fit, particularly after being struck with David’s sudden death,” drummer Nick D’Virgilio comments. “We flew Alberto to London several weeks ago so we could hang together for a few days and the chemistry immediately felt right.”
‘THE JOURNEY CONTINUES’ EUROPEAN TOUR 2022
Big Big Train are also pleased to confirm that their two previously announced UK shows in September 2022 will take place. In addition the band have scheduled six further shows for September in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France.
Keyboardist/vocalist Carly Bryant is unable to tour with the band in September 2022 for family reasons. “After over two years of being part of Big Big Train and involved in two studio albums, I was extremely keen to go on the road with the band. However a recent change in my family situation means that sadly I cannot be away from home in the autumn,” Bryant explains. “I love being part of BBT and will be on stage with the band at the earliest opportunity when my family commitments permit.”
Alongside Bravin, D’Virgilio, Spawton and longstanding guitarist Rikard Sjöblom, the Big Big Train line-up for the September 2022 shows will consist of guitarist Dave Foster, violinist/vocalist Clare Lindley, keyboardist Oskar Holldorff and the Big Big Train brass section led by Dave Desmond. Holldorff leads Norwegian band Dim Gray, whose debut album Flown was much acclaimed last year and who are preparing to release their second album later this year.
“Oskar came to our attention from his work with Dim Gray and is another tremendous talent to involve in Big Big Train,” Sjöblom says. “We’re very grateful to him for stepping in while Carly is unavailable. It’s also exciting that Big Big Train is becoming an increasingly international band – in September we will have an American, a Swede, an Italian and a Norwegian on stage with the Brits.”
During the September tour Big Big Train will be playing material from various stages of their career and also one new song.
“We were originally scheduled to play live shows in spring 2020 but then Covid-19 derailed our live plans repeatedly and since then we’ve prepared numerous different set lists,” Sjöblom continues. “We’ve released two full albums since we last played live and are spoilt for choice with the set list for September.”
“In addition to our UK shows, I’m really looking forward to getting back into continental Europe,” D’Virgilio adds. “As well as visiting the prog strongholds of the Boerderij and Z7, we thought it would be cool to play some smaller venues in France and Germany as we re-establish BBT as a live band. We can’t wait to get out and play again and show what this band can do!”
Big Big Train September 2022 tour dates Friday 2 September – Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury, UK Saturday 3 September – HRH Prog festival, Leeds, UK Monday 5 September – Cultuurpodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands Tuesday 6 September – Harmonie, Bonn, Germany Wednesday 7 September – Kuz, Mainz, Germany Thursday 8 September – Frannz Club, Berlin, Germany Saturday 10 September – Z7, Pratteln (Basel), Switzerland Sunday 11 September – Café de la Danse, Paris, France
Support bands for all shows (except HRH Prog) will be announced shortly.
Tickets for the UK shows are on sale now. Tickets for the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France shows go on sale at 10am UK time on Friday 29 April. See www.bigbigtrain.com/live for ticket links.
Envy Of None, in partnership with Epiphone & Gibson Guitars, are giving away an Alex Lifeson Axcess Standard Signature Les Paul guitar to one lucky fan.
Envy Of None, the new band and debut self-titled album from Alex Lifeson (Rush), Andy Curran (Coney Hatch), Alfio Annibalini and singer Maiah Wynne due for release on Kscope on 8th April
Fans will be able to enter the guitar giveaway via a QR code, printed on a ticket inside one of the CDs in the Deluxe Edition of the debut album.
Created through extensive work with Alex Lifeson and Gibson™, Epiphone’s Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard similarly redefines the boundaries of the classic Les Paul™ in an accessible package. This guitar carries all of the traditional tones that have made the Les Paul legendary, along with unprecedented levels of sonic and performance versatility.
The Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard carries powerful Epiphone Ceramic Pro neck and ProBucker 3 bridge pickups with coil-splitting options via their push-pull volume controls and a Graph Tech Ghost Floyd Rose system that not only provides the world’s most efficient vibrato but is also loaded with Ghost piezo bridge saddles. Access traditional magnetic humbucker tones, mix it up with coil-split options, tap the Ghost’s realistic acoustic tones, or blend acoustic and magnetic voices — the sky’s the limit from this sonic chameleon, whose sound-shifting depths are virtually limitless. You can route it all through a traditional mono jack or use two cables for individual magnetic and piezo outputs. All this and the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard still presents that timeless Les Paul look that has remained a classic for more than 60 years. An EpiLite™ case is also included.
Retailing at $899, this is a unique opportunity to win a high spec, unique instrument, developed by Alex Lifeson himself. The giveaway is open to a worldwide audience, and no purchase is necessary outside Great Britain.
Ltd Edition deluxe version – presented in a gatefold sleeve with a blue coloured vinyl LP, 2 CDs including a 5 track bonus disc, 28 page Booklet with exclusive content (plus QR Code Golden Ticket for giveaway entry)
CD – includes a 16 page poster booklet
LP – on black vinyl / baby blue coloured vinyl (North America exclusive) / white coloured vinyl
InsideOutMusic are pleased to announce the signing of Russian progressive rock newcomers Velcrocranes. The band’s debut album ‘What If I Die’ will be released on the 29th April 2022 via their new label home. Watch a teaser here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn1V07X1n5w
Started out as a small jazz ensemble created originally for practice, it wasn’t until they discovered the music of Porcupine Tree and the malleable world of progressive rock that their true sound came into focus. This new, expansive direction was the future of Velcrocranes.
In 2017, the band would begin playing live shows for fans in their local music scene, which, at that time, still largely consisted of covers – mixed in with new material that the group was diligently working on. In 2018, the band release d their debut EP, ‘Afterlife’, which featured the songs “Hold Your Breath” & “Afterlife”. The tracks would bring the stirring and ethereal vocals of Efim Kolitinov into the forefront, as well as the harmonious guitar leads of Liza Kotova, who serves as a primary songwriter for the group, and the intricate arrangements from Alexander Papsuev.
On their debut full-length, ‘What If I Die’, Velcrocranes remain true to the foundation that they’ve carefully laid in recent years – while showing little restraint for reaching into the bag of tricks to delight their listeners. Speaking about the creative drive behind the themes explored on the LP, the band says, “We imagine the main idea of the album as changing as the listener goes along. Our goal was to draw a parallel to the way your understanding of life’s meaning, your values and choices, and your perception of death change during your lifetime.” The debut album also features keyboard contributions throughout from Adam Holzman (Miles Davis & Steven Wilson): “We’d been trying a lot of different options until at some point we got desperate enough to take a chance and write to Adam … which was totally worth it because he just hit the spot! He managed to keep our original ideas, embellish them and beautifully highlight the genre features.”
The artwork for the band’s forthcoming debut was created by Carl Glover of Aleph Studio, known for his work with Steven Wilson, Frost*, Marillion & more. The band comment: “The idea behind the cover artwork is as simple as it is effective. It seems to emphasize the focus on the intellectual and metaphorical vs concrete and corporeal – this, together with the minimalistic color scheme, blends in just perfectly and echoes the music.”
‘What If I Die’ will be released as Limited CD (with bonus track), Vinyl LP + CD & as Digital Album. Pre-orders will begin on the 25th February.
Ethereal, Indie-folk musician Jo Beth Young (fka Talitha Rise) announces the release of Electro-Folk single BRIGID, the first song from her new album Broken Spells’ The track is a distinctive departure from her previous work, infusing a more upbeat, electronic landscape bringing home to February, inspired by the Celtic Goddess BRIGID.
A taster of what changes and atmospheres may be to come in her first album under her own name, to be released later in 2022.
Jo Beth Says:
“I wrote and created Brigid very late at night on IMBOLC eve itself last year (St. Brigid’s festival on February 1st). I had been working on thenew album for some months and hit a real wall in inspiration, especially production wise. For some reason that night, and maybe it was because of it being Imbolc itself, I felt a new energy and started experimenting with loops and beats, something I’d never attempted before. Content wise, It’s as close to a love song as I might ever write and is about finally breaking through and getting out of dark time or rut or finally uniting or reuniting with someone or something that you feel deeply connected to on soul level. Imbolc is when Persephone is said to come out of the underworld and bring spring to the earth each year. Part of Brigid’s folklore is that she will knock on the door three times that night and if you let her in you let healing and the spring into your life also. It felt very apt and after all of us have been through such a strange time on the planet, it felt like an omen of hope and that there really may be something to look forward to!“
The track features Devon based Cellist Ben Roberts (Abrasive Trees, Evi Vine), beat maker and producer Matt Blackie, and her co-collaborater John Reed from the NIGHTSONG project on lap steel. All the parts were recorded at a distance between the UK and the cottage Jo was living in at the time in the West of Ireland.
Her new album BROKEN SPELLS will be out later this year, the release date of which is not yet confirmed, but there is much more to come from the album yet! DIGITAL DELUXE RELEASE
The single will be available on all major streaming platforms but will also include a Deluxe release on her music glue website as a Digital Deluxe version on MP3 and WAV format.
Jo Beth’s new album Broken Spells will be the first official release under her own name and not under her previous stage names of Talitha Rise and RISE . It features members of her touring band ‘The Abandoned Orchestra’ as well as long term collaborator Peter Yates (Fields Of The Nephillim). Recorded and Produced between England, Ireland and Spain, the album is a thematic exploration of ‘spells’ breaking from both the personal and collective point of view. She has been working on the record since she finished touring her last album STRANGERS in 2019. Interestingly, and perhaps spookily, during recent times, and after having named the new album, Jo Beth found out she was the descendant of Isobell Young – a Scottish woman who was accused, persecuted and executed for witch craft in the 1600’s. With the upcoming pardon of Scottish witches on the horizon, Jo Beth has recently been interviewed by publications such as The Sunday Times and Daily Mail on the subject and her feelings on creativity, healing and the end of persecution for women in particular.
Tracks from the new album will appear on upcoming film The Clear which is currently being produced in the UK.
Prog icons The Flower Kings recently announced the release of their 15th studio album ‘By Royal Decree’, set for 4th March 2022. Now, the band are pleased to share the first single from the album “The Great Pretender.” The album is now available for pre-order.
Check out the new track here:
Roine Stolt on the new single: “In the 25 year history and 16 studio albums of ’The Flower Kings’ – being in the middle of it all means it is not always easy to try and take a look from the outside, but this track represent well both what is new and what is old – the melodic side and the sonic adventure.”
‘By Royal Decree’ Tracklisting
1.The Great Pretender (6:55)
2.World Gone Crazy (5:04)
3.Blinded (7:45)
4.A Million Stars (7:11)
5.The Soldier (5:23)
6.The Darkness In You (5:13)
7.We Can Make It Work (2:48)
8.Peacock On Parade (5:15)
9.Revolution (5:59)
10.Time The Great Healer (6:12)
11.Letter (2:25)
12.Evolution (4:47)
13.Silent Ways (5:01)
14.Moth (4:31)
15.The Big Funk (4:39)
16.Open Your Heart (5:17)
17.Shrine (1:08)
18.Funeral Pyres (7:14)
‘By Royal Decree’ will be available as Ltd. 2CD Digipak,
as Ltd. 180g 3LP+2CD Box Set as well as Digital Album.
You can pre-order the album now here:
https://theflowerkings.lnk.to/ByRoyalDecree
The band are back at their most creative, flowery and playful – mirroring the 70’s melting pot of folk, symphonic, electronic, jazz, blues, funk & prog. On the new album they have looked for more organic and vintage sounds, still centered around the foundation of drums, bass, guitars and the iconic Hammond, grand piano, mellotron & Moog synthesizers.
The album also sees the return of founding member Michael Stolt, who takes up bass guitar and vocals, alongside the line-up of Mirko DeMaio on drums, Zach Kamins on keyboards, Hasse Fröberg on vocal & guitar and Roine Stolt on vocal & guitars and Jonas Reingold on bass. The band convened in the middle of 2021 at Fenix Studios in Sweden to record through the fully analogue Rupert Neve mixing desk. The album also features beautiful cover art, once again created by Denver-based artist Kevin Sloan.
Next year’s tour will also see the band revisiting their early years, performing tracks from ‘Retropolis’, ‘Stardust We Are’, ‘Flower Power’, ‘Space Revolver’ and ‘Back In The World Of Adventures’. This will coincide with the release of newly remastered editions of The Flower Kings albums on CD & Vinyl later in 2022. The first confirmed live dates are as follows:
30th March 2022 – Katalin, Uppsala, Sweden
31st March 2022 – Musikens Hus, Gothenburg, Sweden
