Fortunately, once in a while it happens. On an uneventful day, I contemplate a strange new CD about which I knew nothing. The jacket shows a strange green character looking at footprints on the ground in a park at night. I put it on my computer, the music slowly began in the media player, with the random alchemy on, and it absolutely blows my mind. Whoever has said that there was no good new progressive rock band? Gee, it must have been me, but I was wrong. Days Between Stations eponymous first album is the proof that hope must rule the world, even if nostalgia and sadness permeate this opus. I have listened to it many times now and it is always a renewed pleasure.
When I was preparing my review, I read many commentaries on this CD, and it strikes me that most commentators tried obstinately to pin down a style or a precise influence in their music. The group itself on his website acknowledge many influences. Except for the piece Either/Or that I will comment later, I think the group offer us a unique contribution and an original one at that. So, it is different from all the other progressive groups but still strangely familiar, a kind of smooth sailing with many influences but still an original result. How? They speak an emotional language with musical instruments. It seems that the group encountered many problems and personal tragedies in the process of creating this CD that almost sunk the project. We are lucky they persisted.
The group describe his style as art rock and post-prog. Perhaps, but its main force is the melodic ambiance created which is, in my view, more space rock, almost mesmerizing and trance inducing. Their music is never heavy or metal sounding. The intricacy and complexity of the composition with the choice of instruments (real great sax!), makes this debut album an instant classic.
The first piece Requiem for the living subtly introduces us to the pain and mourning underlying most of this album. Its slow beginning creates and conveys a real sadness and later in the song, the feeling is accentuated when we heard what seems to be a funeral lament. Sometimes the livings are worse off than the departed. But the show must go on and, as the song evolve and change, we perceive that their may be light at the end of the tunnel; after the mourning, hope can inspire new things. All in all, what a great beginning!
Even if it has a real Pinkfloydian sound, with vocals seeming to emerge directly from the Dark Side of the Moon, Either/Or is, from my point of view, a great tribute piece. It shows also that progressive rock is not dead and from a common background great new things can be achieved. It takes guts to revisit a monumental classic and offer in his spirit a song of equal stature as the original. Another homerun!
In hearing the next piece, my first thought was great, but too brief. Then I said to myself, ok it is an Intermission part 1 so it achieved its ends, provoke a brief change in mood but nevertheless be in tune with the spirit of the project.
The next piece How to seduce a ghost has a superb ethereal feel. I literally float listening to it. A real ambient piece for the lover of Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno or Air. When the guitar enters its magical.
This is the commercial piece of this CD, the song that can be played on commercial radios. Thus, Radio song is a pop song with a good, almost danceable, beat. The group has chosen it for publicity but it is not a good sample of their work for this song is too cheerful in tone, a kind of playful old new wave beat. Nevertheless, it is a good song which offers another facet of their talent.
I prefer longer intermission but still with 1:36, it is a great Intermission part 2. It guides us to one of the most amazing piece I heard in a long long time.
The last piece, but certainly not least (with 22:14 minutes of pure pleasure), is Laudanum. For the terminally ill? Maybe, but still, it is the masterpiece of this album, soothing the unbearable pain. It is subdivided in four parts: A long goodbye, Every one is here but you, Nowhere, The wake. Sounds like the story of a personal tragedy. I am almost speechless of admiration. It worth buying the CD for this piece alone! Great sax! At the same time weepy and smoky. This song is haunting. You must try it for yourself. Each instrument contributes to the overall impression that the song is narrating a true and profoundly sad story, however painful it may be to do so. They wonderfully complemented each other. But like all great work of art, it seems to me open to many interpretations. The common ground is the intensity of the emotions everyone could hear. Near the end, the piano, the guitar then the other instruments opened, in my perception, a door on something else; we can now raise and look ahead. Life goes on; we may be stronger than we thought. We may even had learned something to better us.
Some commentators have proposed that this CD sounded like a film soundtrack. I am absolutely against that idea. This project stands on its own. It can inspire a film, not the other way around. For me it is a very strong debut album which is for now at the top of my best CD list for this new year. At each listen, I find it more fantastic.
