Following the sad news of the passing of drummer Alan White, YES will go ahead with their forthcoming The Album Series Tour 2022 in June celebrating the 50th anniversary of their iconic album Close to the Edge, dedicating the tour to Alan White.
On 25 May 2022 Steve Howe & Geoff Downes spoke to Prog Magazine Editor Jerry Ewing ahead of the Close to the Edge 50th Anniversary Tour. This interview was recorded before Alan White passed away.
Here’s a link to the interview:
The Album Series Tour 2022 will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of YES’ iconic album Close to the Edge and will feature the album, performed in full, along with other classic tracks from YES’ extensive catalogue.
The Close to the Edge show will comprise full production and high-definition video wall directed by Andy Clark and featuring the artwork of Roger Dean who will also be joining the tour with an exhibition of YES related art.
The tour line-up will feature Steve Howe (guitars and backing vocals), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (lead vocals), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar and backing vocals) with Jay Schellen (drums and percussion).
About YES
Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history. Their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Yessongs (a triple live album set), Tales From Topographic Oceans,Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums.
With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 where they performed Roundabout from the album Fragile and the FM radio-friendly Owner Of A Lonely Heart from the 1985 album 90125. In 2021 YES released their 22nd Studio album, The Quest, produced by Steve Howe, which went to No.1 in the UK rock chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No. 20.
‘Urskog’ is the latest, and fourteenth album of the folk/fusion progressive rock group, Kaipa. The band was, in earlier times, home to Roine Stolt of TheFlower Kings and it’s easy to see just how he was able to be a part of this band’s heritage and sound.
This album is Stolt free but, nonetheless, it is a very accomplished and epic sounding release and takes you on an aural journey through the forests of the Swedish wilderness and its changing seasons. It is all remarkable considering the album only has six tracks, two epics of fifteen plus minutes, one ten minute track, a nine minute instrumental and one, shorter, six minute song. Yet, within its grooves, you will discover a fabulous world of invention and wonder, at least I did.
I could find touches of Yes in the bass work of Jonas Reingold and the fine, fluid guitar of Per Nilsson, not to mention the epic, and often orchestral, keyboards of Hans Lundin, and that’s before we mention the excellent vocals from PatrickLundstrom and Aleena Gibson. Along with the powerhouse of drummer DarbyTodd, they really create a lush and rich, symphonic sound.
Opener The Frozen Dead Of The Night sets the scene for much of what follows, initially gentle before a stirring synth line from Hans is introduced to favorable effect and the music takes a more rhythmic approach. The drums are then brought into play, this opener is quite keyboard heavy in parts but this works well for the song. The next part of the song leads us towards spring and to the excellent fretwork of Per, who really let’s fly on this section. He has a lovely tone and fleet fingers that fly across the fretboard wonderfully, and highly melodically too.
In A World of Pines takes us deep into the forest and into a sensory experience of mindfulness, even as we learn to appreciate the pine forests and the peace that they offer us. There’s lots happening musically in this song too, lots of lovely keyboard sounds and textures. Next is title track Urskog which has a broody tone to its, almost menacing really. Being sung in Swedish reinforces this and without any translation of the lyrics, it doesn’t help, although there are lots of soaring synths on offer herein. There is also a good bass / drum interaction going on throughout which is highly effective in nature, if only I knew what they were on about!
Far Better for me is Wilderness Excursion which features lots of energetic soloing from keyboard player Hans, guitarist Per and bassist Jonas, who channels his inner Chris Squire to pronounced effect. All of this is surrounded by the busy, yet effective, drum work of Darby. With the song being fully instrumental, everyone gets their moment to shine but it is collectively that they really make a point. This is not mere showing off per se, instead it is collectively highlighting their skills together as an ensemble within the track that works so well. This blistering track really shows how well they get together as a unit and can show that on record too.
The Wastelands of My Mind is hinged on a gloriously uplifting violin melody by Elina Rubensztein which, when coupled with a fabulous vocal from Aleena Gibson, really shines and evokes memories of Kansas’Robbie Steinhardt. Yes, it really is that good and it makes this definitely one of the album’s finest tracks. Final track TheBitter Setting Sun is also a great with another epic setting and keyboard sounds to match and with lot going on in its fifteen plus minutes running time. The song moves between sections excellently with each part being marked by the different sounds that make it run smoothly.
This album is full of life, you can sense how the seasons change and how life develops as a result. The whole record is very life affirming and an absolute joy to listen to. I heartily recommend it to all prog fans, it’s not that folk oriented but does have a fair element of fusion type embellishments. However it’s all excellently overseen and thoroughly enjoyable as a result.
The worlds of Prog and AOR often meet and this fine set from HNE/Cherry Red can certainly attest to that, comprising, as it does, the complete recorded output of UK rockers Strangeways and those with US vocalist Terry Brock who replaced original singer Tony Liddell in 1987.
Strangeways were, at the time, championed by the likes of Kerrang and Raw as being rivals to mega US bands like Journey, Styx and REO Speedwagon, with their 1985 debut ‘Strangeways’ coming highly commended in that arena. However, as is often the case, the hype was not realised, in part because Strangeways’ record label, Bonaire, were not up to the case and lacked the promotional push to get the album across to the masses properly. So, whilst the album was solid and had much promise, it failed to sell in sufficient numbers to really get to the next level.
The lack of sales meant something had to change and so out went Tony Liddell and Terry Brock was recruited. Brock was unknown but had a glorious voice and the band gelled with his superior vocals. This all bore fruit on 1987’s ‘Native Sons’ album which yielded the minor hit Dance With Somebody, produced by John Punter. The album was, and is still, highly rated as a landmark moment in British AOR recordings, one that could stand side by side with anything the US could offer, it was that strong and was highly enjoyable too.
Sadly though, despite positive press and reviews, again Bonaire failed to capitalise on the groundswell of acclaim and the album floundered and then lost momentum completely, leaving the band high and dry once again.
So it was that, once again, in 1987 Strangeways regrouped to record ‘Walk Into TheFire’, this time for RCA as Bonaire had fallen by the wayside. The album did not even get a UK release but was available as an expensive import. As the album failed to gain much (if any) traction in the UK, and with no tour support or dates in tow, the band disappeared from the public eye.
Such is the way of things I guess, although this new set at least gives us the opportunity to revisit and re-evaluate the bands career. It contains their three AOR albums and also their more progressively inclined fourth album, ‘And The Horse’, from 1994 that was ignored by everyone, despite it being particularly good in parts. Terry Brock had left by this time and joined Mike Slamer’s project and then Giant for their ‘Promise Land’ release.
The great little set also includes thirteen demo tracks and four live tracks, which prove the band to be formidable in a concert setting. The band certainly had the skills and the songs but were sadly let down by the record company and by events that were very much beyond their control, yet they left us with several albums of classy song writing and some sterling performances shown across the four discs.
Of the four albums, obviously, ‘Native Sons’ is the standout with its near perfect blend of classy and distinctive AOR and with a world class vocalist in tow raising the songs to an extraordinary standard and level. The debut ‘Strangeways’ album is also a very strong album but lacks that extra bit of sparkle, polish and magic that TerryBrock adds to proceedings. The third album, ‘Into The Fire’, is almost as good as ‘Native Sons’, but not quite and you can begin to sense the frustrations coming out of the band with their lack of progress to greater success and acclaim.
By the fourth album a seismic shift had taken place in that Terry Brock had gone and Ian Stewart had taken over the vocals. In addition, the musical landscape had changed with grunge coming to the fore and so Strangeways had changed their sound, gone was the AOR instead a more bluesy and jazz influenced sound had emerged. It makes this fourth and final album rather interesting and vastly different. Indeed, the sound is a lot more intimate sounding, Ian’s vocals are efficient at best he certainly is no Terry Brock! but his voice suits what is happening musically. The songs are longer, allowing room for Ian to indulge his inner Pink Floyd to fine effect. The album is not an easy one to find these days, so this set offers a terrific opportunity to make its acquaintance
For me though, it is the first three albums that really shine and, even more so, the second and third ones where Terry Brock’s fine voice really shake the rafters. This is a notable set and one I heartily Recommend to fans of this Genre.
In this piece I talk to Steve Howe about about both the forthcoming Yes UK live dates, why they are not playing ‘Relayer’ this time around and about the ‘Asia in Asia’ box set that is due out in June.
John Wenlock-Smith – Good afternoon Steve, are you keeping well?
Steve Howe – Yes I am, thank you.
JWS – You are in Devon today then?
SH – Yes, in a secret location! I moved here some 26 years ago from London and, whilst I still live in London, I visit as much as I can as my studio is here.
JWS – Fair enough. I have spent many happy times in Devon. It is a lovely area.
SH – Yes, well I certainly like the slower pace as opposed to the madness of London!
JWS – So the tour that you are doing in June, how come you are not going to do the ‘Relayer’ album, as originally announced and intended?
SH – Well, with it being a shorter run of dates, as we cancelled the European leg, it’s now just the ten shows in the UK. We felt that it was better to postpone that particular album, especially as ‘Close To The Edge’ is 50 years old this year, and perform that in its entirety instead. We will also do a few other favourite songs and some of ‘The Quest’ album, although I’m not saying which we will play, keep it under wraps as it were.
So that is the plan now, and save ‘Relayer’ till next year when we can give it the treatment that it deserves, so we chose to concentrate on playing CTTE this time around, to give it a good airing and celebrate the anniversary in this manner.
JWS – Yes, because you have had Patrick Moraz along for some shows doing ‘Gatesof Delirium’ ?
SH – We had Patrick play Soon with us on a tour that Tony Kaye had joined us for, the celebratory tours. We like doing that sort of thing, although we have no plans on that as yet, not that to say that that it’s out of the window but, at the moment, we are concentrating on getting back out on the road after three years enforced time away.
Also, that is why coming back after 3 years away, we are doing what we are comfortable with and can do to the standard that is required and that Yes fans warrant and demand.
JWS – Yes, I can understand that way of thinking, plus it leaves the way open for a further tour with ‘Relayer’ being featured.
SH – Exactly…
JWS – I am glad that tracks from ‘The Quest’ will be featured, as I really enjoyed that album. I thought The Ice Bridge was exceptionally fine, reminiscent of Fanfare For The Common Man in the keyboard sounds, and also your solo Album ‘Love Is’, with Jon Davison on vocals.
SH – Thank you.
JWS – Well I thought it was a good set of songs, well performed.
SH – Yes, Jon did a wonderful job on that, didn’t he?
JWS – I also really enjoyed the ‘Homebrew 7’ album.
SH – Thank you, that was quite different for me in that it did not have the usual Homebrew story but was mostly unreleased tracks and ideas that I was able to work to fruition and completion. It was a retro album of music that was unreleased so thank you again for appreciating that.
JWS – I enjoy listening to latest music, especially music that you have released, so what are the chances of having your two original Atlantic albums (‘Beginnings’ and ‘The Steve Howe Album’) being re-released again?
SH – Warner’s, Rhino, Atlantic or whoever have been so nice to me, they are officially releasing those albums, so I will investigate that. I think it’s marvellous to be part of the story of Ahmet Ertegun (Atlantic label founder).
Howe Sound, the label that releases many of my albums, is quite diverse really and I feel comfortable with what they release for me, plus I like to do things differently and not be stuck in a treadmill way of things.
JWS – I do not blame you, variety is the spice of life, or so they say.
SH – Indeed.
JWS – Now Asia, that new Boxset (‘Asia in Asia’) that is coming out in June (10th) is very impressive…
SH – BMG have released the Reunion albums, with Fantasia releasing the DVD but this one is even nicer. That is, I especially like the diligence, I like detail anyway and this set really has an elevated level of detail to it, making it worthy of attention. When we did those shows some forty odd years ago, Greg (Lake) was really inspiring in that he was singing John’s (Wetton) parts, playing his bass lines too and doing it all with dignity and aplomb.
The Asia story is all told within those sets really, the two original albums, ‘Go’ and ‘Asia In Asia’ and then the years where Geoff was holding the banner, keeping the flame alive as it were, with various people drifting in and out including myself. Then there’s the reunion and subsequent albums and tours, it’s all in those albums and the ‘Asia In Asia’ especially shows a period where Greg really rose to the occasion magnificently as the set testifies in such a great way.
JWS – The only criticism I have, and it is a minor one really, is that, in the booklet, it mentions a documentary filmed around that time in which each member traces their Asia journey and, although mentioned, I cant see it on the Blu-Ray?
SH – Well, I thought it was there, but I will investigate that and see. Although Blu-Rays are notorious for not being easy to find things on, I know that from experience, so I will check into that for sure.
JWS – I agree that Greg did an outstanding job. This is borne out in the remixed audio on the CD’s where he sings, albeit in a lower register on some tracks, but in a very accomplished manner and his bass playing is equally as inspiring too.
SH – When I heard the audio for the mix, it was good until we got to the last two tracks, Heat Of The Moment and Sole Survivor, where they sounded awful. So I took it up with the label and they said Steve’s really on the ball, those two tracks hadn’t been remixed. I insisted that they were brought up to the same standard and I’m glad to say that they did just that and now they sound fantastic.
JWS – Good, I am very much looking forward to seeing you in Manchester on the tour.
SH – Good, well I love the Bridgewater hall, I played a solo concert there several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It reminded me of those early shows where I learnt my craft, like the one when I played support to Delaney andBonnie along with Eric Clapton and George Harrison etc, remarkable times and music.
JWS – Have you heard Geoff’s Downes Braide Association stuff at all?
SH – Yes, I have heard that it is an exciting outlet for his music.
JWS – Plus Roger Dean participates in the artwork for that.
SH – Yes, well Roger is a big part of the Yes story, he will be on the tour too.
JWS – Well Steve, my time has gone, so may I just thank you for your time today and I will hopefully see you in Manchester next month.
SH – Thank for talking to me and for your interest in my music and of Yes too, thank you John.
You’re going to need time, lots of it too, to get maximum enjoyment from this pretty exhaustive and, at times challenging, box set of 6 CDs. If you do then you can evaluate the career of Sevenoaks born drum maestro William (Bill) Bruford. The box set covers the 40 odd years of his often-erratic career choices and defining drum work.
Bill was an original member of Yes, leaving them shortly after the success of the ‘Close To The Edge’ album for what could be considered more challenging music as offered by King Crimson, with whom he made several seminal albums like ‘Lark’s Tongues inAspic’, ‘Starless and Bible Black’ and ‘Red’, before Crimson fractured and took a hiatus for several years. This was considered an odd move by many, but Bruford wanted to challenge himself, rather than playing the same music ad-nauseum. He was also a part of the original U.K. project with John Wetton and Alan Holdsworth but, again, left after their debut album and tour to concentrate on forming his own band, Bruford, who made three excellent albums and played some fine live shows.
Bruford joined a reformed Crimson for their popular 1980’s reinvention, Adrian Belew and Tony Levin appearing alongside Bill and Robert Fripp for the albums ‘Discipline’, ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair’ and ‘Beat’, that tell the story of that era. When Crimson took an extended break, Bill started his own jazz project, BillBruford’s Earthworks, which was significantly different to all that he had done before. Much of this can be explored on the other four discs within this set along with his involvement as a supporting musician to the likes of Roy Harper, ChrisSquire, Al Di Meola, Steve Howe and David Torn. There are also a slew of collaborations with Patrick Moraz and Michael Borstlap, in their piano and percussion ensembles.
Bear in mind that a lot of this was improvisation at its rawest, so this is not always easy to listen to, yet there is much of worth and value to these discs. It’s not all about the big groups, much of Bill’s joy has been found in the less high profile works. This set is challenging and you can hear how Bill uses space in his music to fine effect and how he has a ‘less is more approach’ to making music. He is a skilled musician and he prefers to underplay as opposed to overplaying, subtlety being the key here, which is why he is so highly regarded by his fellow musicians and his contemporaries. Neal Peart of Rush says that the advancements that Bill made in the realm of electronics were a benefit to everyone.
The Bruford tracks are really fabulous music with a strong bass presence from Jeff Berlin and urgent sympathetic drumming from Bill. Tracks like Joe Frazier from ‘Gradually Going Tornado’ really show Bill’s skill as a band leader. In contrast, the Earthworks tracks are far mellower in the main but still with enough going on to make them of interest and investigation. The band’s revision of Downtown, as made famous by Petula Clark, is exceptionally inventive as they play around with a well-known piece to make it something rather different and exciting.
I really liked the spontaneous elements in the Bruford-Moraz tracks with just piano and drums playing together. The sound is full ,even though there are only two people playing and both Bruford and Moraz use the space in the music to create something pretty remarkable really. As are the tracks with Michael Borstlap which also fuse Bill’s drumming with piano in free form jazz tracks that again use the space to improvise across. This is especially the case on The 16 kingdoms of the Five Barbarians, with it’s thunderous drums and tense piano fills and flourishes, this track really makes an impression as does the highly rhythmic interplay on display on the Stand on Zanzibar, which features a graceful piano melody line and delicate yet informed drumming from Bill.
Equally fascinating are the trio of tracks from David Torn on which Bill appears as part of the rhythm section. Some of this jazz is pretty brutal and harsh, such is the way with the unconventional Torn, but it makes for interesting listening once you get used to it.
The set is split into three sets, discs 1 & 2 represent The Collaborator, discs 3 & 4 are The Composing Leader, disc 5 is The Special Guest and disc 6 Is The Improviser. Much of the first two discs will be familiar, as this encompasses his time with Yes and KingCrimson whilst discs 3 and 4 cover the Bruford and Earthworks era, with everything else on discs 5 & 6. Either way this set is simply fascinating and one that will appeal to the more broad-minded prog fan as its grooves contain much very fine music indeed. The included book and poster are decent too and give a good overview from Bill himself, who was fully 100% involved in this project.
Guitarist and composer David King is a unique voice in instrumental music from Motherwell in Scotland. His CV is extensive and includes a recent spell with legendary Scottish proggers Abel Ganz.
Dave wrote and recorded the five track EP called ‘Look For Stars’ at home from October last year till about 2 weeks ago – constant tweeting not withstanding. It was mastered by Steve Kitch who plays keys in The Pineapple Thief.
David tells me more about the album;
“There are some fine musicians joining me this time – all my previous albums were just me but I had a great drummer Max Saidi on all 5 tracks. Alan (Hearton) from Ganz plays some wonderful keys and piano on 3 songs and I had some additional bass and guitar from a couple of good pals.
It’s all instrumental as you’ve seen on the video clips. In terms of influences it was more proggy than my previous releases but it still end up sounding like me, which is a good thing I suppose.
I’m a real champion of the clean tones on guitar – I thoroughly appreciate the weedly weedly guys but I like textures like Alex Lifeson and Andy Summers.”
Track listing:
Look For Stars
The Spaces Inbetween
Wave After Wave
The Magic Music
A Planet Of Playthings
The EP will be available on all the favourite streaming platforms but, being old school, Dave will doing a limited run of CDs as he’s sure his demographic will still appreciate the physical form!
Keep and eye out for further news and a release date at on social media and at:
Clive Mitten first came to my notice when he released his C:Live Collective project in which he rewrote much of his Twelfth Night music, Clive having been the bass player throughout that band’s lifespan.
That album was to start a whole new way of working for Clive and opened his way of thinking so that he could then go further back and revisit other Twelfth Night pieces in a new way, orchestral re-interpretations realised via the use of real orchestral instrumentation recorded to a very high and professional standard and then collating all that together to craft and create fresh interpretations of his music. This he did for the ‘Suite Cryptique: Recomposing Twefth Night’ project album earlier in 2020 which was widely acclaimed upon its release.
Clive then decided to revisit the favourite music of his youth in a similar method which has resulted in a different type of album, one which revisits, reworks and reinterprets some genuine prog classics in a manner that really highlights the skill that was employed and used in their original creation. This album has no vocals yet, even so, the melodies of these pieces really shine through and captivate your attention. Although it can lack the dynamics of the original pieces, this actually makes you focus on the melodies employed to bring these pieces to life.
If you want, you can do what I have done and play the original versions back-to-back to with Clive’s interpretation and really see the brilliance of each composition stand out. This worked for me, especially on the Rush tracks Countdown, La Villa Strangiato and Xanadu, songs that I know well, this approach revealed the skill of the original late 1970’s and 1980’s’s recordings.
Clive’s take on Genesis’ ‘3 Sides Live’ version of the In The Cage Medley is equally compelling. In fact, I prefer Clive’s versions more than the originals, in many cases, such is the beauty and magic the music unveils. Clearly this has been a real labour of love for Clive to undertake. He says that, in doing this project, he has really begun to appreciate just how intelligent and skilled the compositional skills of Tony Banks truly are.
This album is good in that, unlike the royal Philharmonic Orchestra take on the music of Genesis and Pink Floyd is, this is better in that it is far truer and nearer to the originals, which is high praise. Clive is an unorthodox soul who uses real skill and shows deep appreciation and love for these pieces. He has somehow elevated these well-known classics in such a finely distilled manner that he manages to bring out their voices afresh and breathes a new life into each piece.
Clearly Clive has both an affection and an affinity with these songs, best of all he has further instalments planned and in the pipeline, which certainly will be worthy of investigation but, for now, this double CD set is more than enough to be going on with for now to enjoy a fresh view and slant on these well-known classic album tracks. I cannot recommend this enough as its very nature shines new light on some old classics and is a splendid and often breath-taking aural experience
On this album you will find some seriously inspired song choices, like Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Tubular Bells(Side One), Suppers Ready, Echoes, Solsbury Hill, Living In The Past and Jeux Sans Frontiers. This mixture of longer and shorter tracks really works and, of course, with a CD player you can program and play the CD in any sequence that appeals to you. But, whatever sequence suits you, be prepared to settle down and rediscover these songs afresh for yourself and enjoy this visionary approach and take on these pieces.
It has been a 2-year project that Clive has undertaken here, often difficult with his health problems and his sometimes-fragile mental health as he suffers from agoraphobia and has serious ongoing vision issues. The level of time, energy and commitment he has lent to this album is simply remarkable and, when you consider that Clive arranged and played everything himself and produced this on his own, makes this even more remarkable. The booklet is a fascinating read into how Clive approached and realised his vision and the whole package is simply exceptional and highly commended.
ALBUM LAUNCH: Jubilee Hall in Stoke – June 18th TICKET LINK
Award-winning vocalist and songwriter Ms Amy Birks is thrilled to announce the second single BROTHERS, taken from her forthcoming self-produced sophomore solo album IN OUR SOULS. The video was premiered by PROG MAGAZINE today – LINK
In Our Souls is available digitally today, and for fans of vinyl and CD, it can be pre-ordered in a limited edition of 500 copies that is due for release June 17th 2022 and combines a 140g black vinyl pressing in a gatefold sleeve with a compact disc.
Brothers is accompanied by an official video and is without-doubt the most personal track on the album, Amy explains; “I have two estranged brothers and those tumultuous relationships have been the subject, or at least the undercurrent of many a song. For whatever reason, we have never seen eye to eye, hence the opening words of ‘I don’t understand why. Do you? Do you know why?’ and the build-up of aggression through the instrumentation. This, I suppose, is my therapy.”
For In Our Souls, out of the twelve tracks on the album, Birks, a long-standing fan of the Bronte sisters, sets the words of three Bronte poems to music. Birks furthered her knowledge of the sisters and their personal musical leanings through several trips to Howarth and the Bronte’s parsonage prior to selecting poems that would provide inspiration for the album.
“I did English literature at college,” Birks said in this issue of PROG MAGAZINE “and I’ve always had a fascination with the Brontes, I thought, ‘Well, Kate Bush has done Wuthering Heights so I’m not going to touch the novels, but what about the poetry?’ So I went through them and landed on three that I loved, one from each sister.”
The first single and title track of the album (released Feb 2022) draws on Charlotte Bronte’s poem In Our Souls, A Death Scene was inspired by a work by Emily Bronte, while The Dream comes from Anne Bronte.
“Anne was into vocal music,” Birks explains, ‘so I kept The Dream more like a singer-songwriter piece. Emily was quite passionate and dark, she was into Beethoven and Liszt, so I pushed the piano to the forefront on that, I found their words went very well with the sort of melodies I write.”
Amy, lead singer and lyricist of Beatrix Players, is joined on the album by Helena Dove and Tom Manning , two co-writers from the original line-up of that award-winning band. Manning also composed and played all the guitar parts on the album. Amy is once again accompanied by flautist John Hackett while introducing violinist Frank Van Essen and cellist Clare O’Connell to what is a virtuosic line-up.
The In Our Souls album represents Birks’ second time around as a producer and mixing engineer. She recalls the process as being “a time of solitude, of many a late night, exploring ideas and losing myself in the books and poetry of the Bronte’s and my own personal journey over the past few years, developing my ears, skills and confidence as a composer.
My first record, All That I Am & All That I Was, was very much about deeply personal experiences but with this album I wanted to extract more strength and feeling from the musical palette and have more fun with it, which has enabled me to step back a little from the lyrics and put more faith in my ability to write not only songs but pieces of music.”
UK TOUR DATES
APRIL 24th – (TRIO) – ROBIN 2, BILSTON
MAY 8th – THE 1865 – SOUTHAMPTON
JUNE 11th – (TRIO) – LONDON MUSIC MUSEUM – OPENING FOR TIM BOWNESS
JUNE 18th – (FULL BAND) ALBUM LAUNCH – JUBILEE HALL @ STOKE TOWN HALL TICKETS
Coming 40 years after he first started performing in bands in his native North West of England, Tim Bowness returns in 2022 with his seventh solo album ‘Butterfly Mind’, due for release on the 17th June 2022. Produced in conjunction with long-time collaborator Brian Hulse, and mixed & mastered by Steven Wilson, this new album is his most surprising release yet.
Watch the video for the album’s first single ‘Always The Stranger’, created by Crystal Spotlight here:
This track features the brilliant rhythm section of Richard Jupp (in his first major session since leaving Elbow) & Nick Beggs, as well as featuring haunting backing vocals from Martha Goddard of The Hushtones. Tim comments: “The title of the song derives from the name of my first ever 1980s solo project. Despite being pretty experimental – I was a very intense teenager! – and only existing on home-produced demo cassettes, ATS got a lot of very welcome support from local media (BBC GMR, Piccadilly Radio, Manchester Evening News and Warrington Guardian, in particular). In some ways, the lyric is something of a ‘what might have been’ or even ‘what may be’ scenario. It’s about what can happen when you don’t embrace change or challenge and creative restlessness gives way to cynical stasis.”
Butterfly Mind will be available as a Limited 2CD Edition (incl. alternative mixes and outtakes), as well as a Limited Edition 180g LP+CD featuring a striking die-cut artwork by Carl Glover. Burning Shed have an exclusive green vinyl edition, and you can pre-order now here: https://timbowness.lnk.to/ButterflyMind
To celebrate the release of the new album, Tim will play some select UK live dates, including an instore + Q&A at Rough Trade East in London.
10.06.2022 – Prohibition, Liverpool, UK
11.06.2022 – The Musical Museum, Brentford, London, UK
18.06.2022 – Rough Trade East, London, UK
Tim’s seventh solo album – his sixth for InsideOutMusic / Sony – features the rhythm section of Richard Jupp (ex-Elbow) and Nick Beggs alongside a spectacular guest list including Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Dave Formula (Magazine), Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Martha Goddard (The Hushtones), Gregory Spawton (Big Big Train), Mark Tranmer (The Montgolfier Brothers / GNAC), Saro Cosentino(Franco Battiato), Italian Jazz musician Nicola Alesini, US singer Devon Dunaway(Ganga), Stephen W Tayler (Kate Bush) and, marking his first studio work with Tim for nearly three decades, former No-Man violinist Ben Coleman.
Progressive-rock band Lobate Scarp will release their second full-length studio album You Have It All on April 1. It serves as an expansion to their 2019 EP Spirals and Portals. Progressive rock fans will appreciate the 17-minute finale “Flowing Through The Change” and the 14 1/2-minute title track featuring guest vocalists Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood from Yes. Modern prog fans will also enjoy guest appearances from Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard) and Jimmy Keegan (Spock’s Beard, Pattern-Seeking Animals). Also drumming on both epic tracks is Eric Moore (Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves).
Rich Mouser, whose mixing repertoire includes Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, has once again mixed the album, and has played even a bigger role as co-producer and additional musician on several tracks. Steven Leavitt, producer of Lobate Scarp’s debut album Time and Space, has also returned to co-produce and engineer. The album will be available in a high-res digital format as well as a limited edition glossy CD-booklet including 16-pages of lyrics, art, and liner notes. This is the third Lobate release with a front cover created by David A. Hardy, infamous space artist. The album is currently available to pre-order at Indiegogo / gotprog.com.
Lobate Scarp is a progressive opera-rock band based in Los Angeles. Their influences range from classic prog-rock of the 70’s such as Genesis and Yes, to 80’s pop such as Duran Duran and Tears for Fears, as well as strong ties to musical theater. Their debut Time and Space has had positive reviews published in numerous music publications and websites such as Prog Archives, Empire Music, and Yes Music Podcast. Online blog, Progarchy called Time and Space “one of the top 13 albums of 2013”. The band is scheduled to perform at this year’s RoSFest, one of America’s premiere progressive rock festival which will take place in Sarasota, Florida.
