When Jem Godfrey is not doing his day job of writing pop hits for the likes of Atomic Kitten, Shayne Ward, and Holly Vallance (to name a few), he is a closet Prog fan. This is the band’s third album, and Jem is joined by all round awesome bloke (and sometimes It Bites front man) John Mitchell, ex Steven Wilson drummer Craig Blundell, and on bass from Level 42, Mark King. So what does Prog sound like when it’s mixed with pop writing? Well, the answer is pretty freaking awesome!
Jem is definitely letting his inner Rick Wakeman loose here as keyboards and electronics drive the whole album. Towerblock is just fantastic! What an amazing song with a superb arrangement, lots of electronic wizardry at play, as well great playing from everyone involved. Now that’s a lesson in how to play and write modern Prog. I didn’t realize until listening to Signs, but John Mitchell’s voice reminds me of Peter Gabriel. One of the best Prog songs that I have heard is The Raging Against The Dying Of The Light Blues In 7/8. Everything about this song is epic. The melody and vocal, the groove and rhythm, and the playing of all concerned is a joy to hear. I still adore this song to bits after playing it on repeat for three years.
You should all have this album in your collection as it is amazing. Check out their other albums as they are all incredible to. It blows my mind that bands like this get virtually no airplay and support, as there is so much more to modern music than we get force fed by the mainstream.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
