28 July 2026: Timothy Pure "Blood of the Berry";

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Timothy Pure biography
American progressive rock band from Georgia has made 3 albums so far, two of them are concept albums. With a lush songwriting approach and a conceptual and highly symbolic perspective on lyrics, the band excels in building up structures of emotional richness that allow for an uninterrupted storyline immersed in drama and sharp social analysis. Their music is a mixture of sweet atmospheres and fine prog passages. Certainly influenced by PINK FLOYD, they manage to produce a typical dark and melodic sound with very strong lyrics.

"Blood Of The Berry" is a concept album that tells a story of love and sacrifice. The music features light and dark musical tones and flows which is what makes this American band so good. The last album "The Island Of The Misfit Toys" (2000) is something more than a prog album: music and words seem to tell us a story you never would be over. This album describes the problems and nightmares children and adolescents deal with nowadays (mainly because of war or child abuse). Matthew Still has a beautiful and emotional voice, the instruments are played in a very subtle way and the production is high standard. Fans of bombastic or overly complex music would be advised to look elsewhere. This is very emotional music which should appeal to fans of concept albums. A must!
(Claude Bpl)

 Review by tszirmay
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator


4 stars This sophomore album was a definite harbinger of things to come as the next "Island of Misfit Toys" will consecrate Timothy Pure with prog excellence. The band came out of peachy Atlanta with a decent debut that had all kinds of promise plastered all over it. A few personnel changes to set the boat straight and a style is born, a strong spacey Floydian influence but thankfully without the immense showoff egos. Matthew Still is an effective keyboardist but an even better vocalist, owner of a dreamy set of pipes that amplifies the murky energy of the music and can snarl when needed. Andre Neitzel on bass does a lissome job weaving his down low notes deep into the rhythmic fabric set by drummer Chris Wallace. Guitarist Zod (yeah, I know.) does not attempt to be a guitar god (zod=god?), staying well within his tonal limitations and sealing the arrangements as a team concept and not 4 virtuosos showing off their chops. Let it be said right away, this is not the most complex material ever recorded but it has a very original style that reverberates often through the course of these tracks that flow into one another, as if one long suite. Not much change of pace either, Timothy Pure come across as jacks of one trade, relying on some superbly mysterious melodies to keep the doom moving forward. "Blood of the Berry" has some luminous moments, such as on the fantastic "Slide", the extraordinary "The Afterglow" and the lilting "Magdalena Hell", all imbued with a mystical haze that is quite attractive, even after multiple spins. There is a slight similarity with fellow American bands Singularity and Discipline, both having made some admirable recordings. While this is a good release and thoroughly enjoyable, it still lacks some fire in the belly which would catapult it into the upper reaches of excellence. The best is yet to come. 3.5 pulpous fruits.

21 July 2026: FreeForm Takes a One Week Break

 I will be volunteering for the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge this week and will be out of town.

 

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14 July 2026: Arabs in Aspic, “Madness and Magic”; Andreas Tilliander, “Lava”. QD51

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                                               Arabs in Aspic. “Madness and Magic”


https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/madness-and-magic


Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by TCat
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars This is Arabs in Aspic's 6th full length album. "Madness and Magic" is really the perfect name for this album as, when I listen to it, it sounds like an excellent progressive sound (which is the Magic), yet it also sounds almost like it is going to fall apart at any time (the Madness). This combination makes for an intriguing listen, not only on the first listen, but also on subsequent listens. I recognize that saying something sounds like "it is going to fall apart at any time" might seem negative, but in this sense, it gives the music a feeling of unpredictability, which to me, is a great thing. But, along with this, the Magic side of the album is that it sounds authentically progressive, borrowing sounds and shades of classic progressive bands while still sound quite relevant and fresh. It is this mix that keeps me coming back to this excellent and well-constructed album. 

But, unfortunately, there are some issues here, which, from reading the previous reviewer's comments, is an issue that the band has had in the past. This problem stems with the odd lyrics that are sometimes embarrassingly bad. For those listeners that don't put a lot of weight on the lyrics, this might slip by unnoticed, but since lyrics and vocals are quite an important part of the band's music here, it is hard to imagine that the listener would just not notice that. Looking at past ratings for the band's previous albums, each one of them has managed to average at 4 stars. Honestly, this is the first time I have heard this band, though I have heard of them before. The fact that they haven't raised or lowered that score among fellow Archive raters, does concern me a bit, but listening to this album does make me want to explore deeper into their music.

The 6 songs on this album are all "fused" together, each one flowing into the next, almost making this entire endeavor sound like a suite. However, it's obviously not that as each song (except for the two part "Lullaby for Modern Kids") is it's own entity. But through these songs, one things remains constant, excellent composition and well-constructed progressive music, which flows along quite smoothly from drifting, psychedelic passages to melodic sections to heavy and solid riffs. The album definitely has something for everyone, but also seems focused to deliver high-quality music. But it is the instrumental portions of the album that are the best and that stand out the most in the first several listens, and the vocal complexities soon become a more appreciated part of the music as both your ear and mind adjust to the style. 

This is an album that will impress most progressive listeners right at the outset. Of course the track that will garner the most interest from the progressive crowd will be the 16+ minute "Heaven in Your Eye", which again is almost perfect, but seems to end a bit lackluster and abruptly, like the song is ready to move on to another section, but instead just quickly fades out. There are a few minor issues like that that seem to keep this album from reaching a 5 star status, but hopefully that doesn't keep anyone from at least giving this album a try. It's not a masterpiece, but it is still quite enjoyable and worthy of 4 stars.


Credits:
Music by Andreas Tilliander
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios
Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with Andreas Tilliander
Design by quiet details
© quiet details 2026 all rights reserved

Extremely pleased to say that next in the quiet details series, with an interpretation of immense breadth, is the eminent Swedish producer, Andreas Tilliander, with Lava.

Andreas has been established in the highest echelons of electronica since the late nineties - amassing a vast discography across many leading labels and multiple aliases. Wide-ranging productions under his own name, Morika, TM404, Rechord and many more - on the likes of Kontra Musik, Mille Plateaux, Raster-Noton, Acid Test and his own Repeatle - has proven him time and again to be one of the most important and influential artists of recent years. Essential live performances have served to enforce this legacy.

Lava is Andreas Tilliander at his finest - endlessly experimental and wildly creative expressions, shaped into a sonic excursion of mind-expanding distinction.

As he says, this is “An exploration of southern Sweden - light, memory, and open landscapes.” And we can feel this from the very first second.

Deeply atmospheric from the start, submerged locational recordings intertwine with gradually evolving synths - creating an introduction that lays out the beginning of the path into this beautifully constructed album.

Trademark acidic pulses emerge through the clouds as the music continues on unabated, and from there we’re led by the hand through the emotions Andreas elicits from his surroundings.

His mastery of his machines is total - analogue richness, digital grunge - recordings from many sources manipulated into fascinating collages - all meld into a cohesive whole by the immense creative vision he possesses.

At times vivid and luminescent, and others dark and meditative - always profoundly reflective - this is an album of vast contemplation, perfectly executed by a master of his form.

As Andreas says:

Recorded primarily with samplers, some shitty synthesizers, field recordings from Hässleholm, old VHS tapes, and the quiet electricity of Skåne.

Special thanks to the fields and roads of Vinslöv, Vankiva, and Hässleholm. To the shores of Åhusfältet and the streets that shaped everything. Thank you for the crystal clarity, the glow, the light, and the stillness.

Street Wise. Vinslöv. Vankiva. Hässleholm.

I feel crystal clear.

Huge thanks to Andreas, a stunning addition to the series.

The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - originating from a photo from Andreas which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios.

As usual, the album is presented on the physical edition, a custom six-panel digipack with a separate fine art print too.

The CD also has a special long-form continuous mix of the album, unique and representing the music in its purest form.

repeatle.bandcamp.com
 

credits

released July 1, 2026

ambientsweden

07 July 2026: Rush 50 Something Tour Celebration; DiN Reimagined Volume 1 (DiNDDL36)

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Tonight we celebrate the 50 Something Rush tour set for 2026 and 2027. We'll start with Side 1 of the 1976 album that was their major breakthrough, 2112,  and follow with some choice studio cuts from A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978).

2112 (1976): 

 I. "Overture" (4:31)

II. "The Temples of Syrinx" (2:16)

III. "Discovery" (3:25)

IV. "Presentation" (3:41)

V. "Oracle: The Dream" (2:00)

VI. "Soliloquy" (2:19)

VII. "Grand Finale" (2:16)

"Cygnus X-1 Book I : The Voyage"       (A Farewell to Kings, 1977)

"Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres"     (Hemispheres, 1978)

"La Villa Strangiato"                          (Hemisperes, 1978)

"Closer to the Heart"                         (A Farewell to Kings, 1977)

The Fifty Something tour is a concert tour by the Canadian rock band Rush. The tour began on June 7, 2026 in Inglewood, California, and is currently set to conclude in Helsinki, Finland on April 10, 2027.[1] It is Rush's first tour in 11 years, and their first live outing without drummer Neil Peart in 52 years, following his death in 2020,[2] with Anika Nilles filling in for him.[3] On February 23, 2026, Rush announced that Loren Gold would be the keyboardist for the tour, making it the first time the band has toured with more than three main musicians.[4][5] 

 

 

The merits of the DiN releases Box of Secrets, Distant Rituals, Outpost, Art of Sacrifice and Blaze continue to be worth extolling, as the ideas they contain are remarkable and unique in history. Setting these titles as reference points, Ian Boddy has reconceived and reworked each to produce the five 30 minute experiments presented on DiN Reimagined Volume 1 (158:05). This impeccably crafted batch of reconstructions have been dropping periodically over the years, for people in the know (Boddy's Patreon subscribers), and are collected now in this first of a new series. Though all tracks are rooted in a previous DiN designation, Boddy sees the aforementioned albums as reference points - reconsidering the music and intentions of the earlier version, in a transformation of markedly different artistic outcomes. Suppressed beneath a midnight of softly burning dreams listeners delve into chill currents - to emerge beyond the control of known forces. In direct connection to lower levels of thought electronic textures and tones expend their force in an atmosphere of searching. Falling through darkness notes collide, collude and combine. Moments pass in a ramble of melody, a flight of timbre, a search of harmony. Chords, moving in contrary motion suggest a scene, create a mood - fashioning a world that may be real, but not representative of reality. Hallucinatory and fragmentary, these impressionistic aural images are the product of a particularly astute re-interpretation and refinement of the original recordings. Commanding a range of technologies and mechanisms Boddy has here realized a pentad of surreal, dreamlike sonic experiences - which manage to acknowledge their sources, while emphasizing a distinctive craftsmanship, inventiveness and personality. DiN Reimagined Volume 1 offers a sound collage that moves well within the painstakingly detailed shades and hues of Ambient Music. In such cerebral Spacemusic, even when challenged by dissonance we hear a unity in the arrangement - and what message it is trying to convey.

- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END   18 June 2026


As the core DiN label inexorably heads towards a century of releases, it’s worth looking back on a huge legacy of incredible releases. Label boss Ian Boddy has been producing some very special mixes of the early, deep back catalogue titles over the last couple of years. However, unlike the free-to-download DiN Mixes (of which there have been six so far), these are total reconstructions of the relevant albums. This method of working has involved Boddy using a number of techniques, including time-stretching, tape recorder pitch changes, granular engine manipulations, adding new effects such as reverb and echo, as well as accessing the original albums’ stems. Thus, they are not simple remixes using the original album tracks but rather a reconstruction of each release to produce a new piece of music. Indeed, Boddy has eschewed any references to rhythmic or sequenced material from the source tracks but has rather created a series of ambient soundscapes that each span 30 minutes or so. These open up new possibilities from the peacefully ambient to the weird and mysterious. Originally released exclusively via Boddy’s Patreon channel, this first volume collects five of these reimagined mixes as a Bandcamp digital download album.

credits

released June 12, 2026

All mixes reimagined by Ian Boddy from the original DiN albums.

Ian Boddy Patreon channel @ www.patreon.com/ianboddy

https://bandcamp.com/discover/sunderland?from=tralbum&artist=1737731247   

 

30 June 2026: Huis "Despite Guardian Angels"; "Night Falls: Music Inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks"

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I am also hosting Rural Electric, so tune in for some great country music from 7-9 before FreeForm! 

 

Huis biography
Founded in Québec, Canada in 2009

Huis ("home doors" in french, and "house" in dutch) is a five member musical project from Québec officially formed by Pascal LAPIERRE (keyboards) and Michel JONCAS (bass) at the end of 2009, after an oustanding and inspiring trip in the Netherlands.

At that time, they decided to put on tape (read hard drive!) some ideas they had in mind since a long time. Over time, three other talented musicians, William REGNIER (drums), Sylvain DESCOTEAUX (vocals) and Michel ST-PERE, this last musician from the band MYSTERY (guitars) joined the band, each one bringing a special touch to Huis' sound.

The music is a well crafted progressive rock with a symphonic touch and the use of Hammond, Moog and Mellotron takes us back to the old prog rock sound of the 70's. The guitar playing of St-Pere brings a big influence of the Neo-Prog band MYSTERY and many others Neo-Prog bands that put the melody and vocals upfront with strong compositions skills. The band has released is first studio album in January 2014, " Despite Guardian Angels". 

Reviewed by Marc on 30 Jan 2014


First album from this Canadian Neo Prog band. Huis is made up of french speaking Canadians, but listening to Sylvain Descôteaux on lead vocals, this band could easily pass for a Manchester or Liverpool based group.

The most well known (at least to me) member of Huis is Michel St-Père, leader of Mystery, a band that has a gained an international reputation, partly because of ex-Yes Benoit David on lead vocals. Because of that, there are some excellent guitars to be heard on Despite Guardian Angels, but this is certainly not the only positive point of this excellent CD. Pascal Lapierre on keyboards also takes on a prominent role, having a constant presence in the music and offering a number of interesting solos. The rythm section (i.e. Michel Joncas and William Régner) is impeccable and Descôteaux's vocals are just great, his powerfull yet very melodic voice being better than the great majority of lead singers of today's most well known Neo Prog bands.

The compositions on Despite Guardian Angels are all very good, very symphonic in nature, alternating powerfull pieces with more melodic and emotional ones. If I were to pick a band as an acceptable reference, it would be late 90's or early 00's Arena, and Despite Guardian Angels compares easily with their best CDs.

Those wanting to hear some great Neo Prog should certainly seek out this new album by Huis. In my humble opinion, Despite Guardian Angels is one of the best Neo Prog album to come out in quite a while. Don't miss it. 

My highest recommendation indeed.

 


Night Falls is a literary anthology inspired by the universe of Twin Peaks, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The book brings together eight original short stories that explore the emotional, symbolic, and metaphysical territory it has carved into the collective imagination. At the heart of Twin Peaks lies a fragile balance between familiarity and unease, between everyday rituals and the presence of something deeply unsettling beneath the surface. Night Falls embraces this tension, moving through small towns, isolated landscapes, domestic interiors, dreams, and thresholds where reality begins to fracture. The writers approach Twin Peaks as a condition of perception. Their stories resonate with themes that have long defined the work of Lynch and Frost: duality, hidden violence, trauma, the instability of time, and the uneasy coexistence of innocence and corruption. Some narratives lean toward psychological introspection, others toward the uncanny or the metaphysical, yet all share a sensitivity to atmosphere, rhythm, and suggestion rather than explanation. Night Falls extend the resonance of Twin Peaks into new and independent fictional forms. It invites the reader to remain within ambiguity, to accept disorientation, and to listen carefully to what emerges when the lights fade and the night begins to speak.

Stories by: J. Edwin Buja, Michael F. Housel, Chris McAuley, Nora B. Peevy, RDJ Armstrong, Niyyah Ruscher-Haqq, Erica Ruppert, Can Wiggins.

Curated by Raffaele Pezzella
Edited by Chris McAuley

This compilation continues a path that Unexplained Sounds Group has been developing over time, following the earlier CD project inspired by Eraserhead. While that release focused on the cinematic origins of David Lynch’s language, this new work turns its attention to Twin Peaks, the television series created by Lynch and Mark Frost that profoundly reshaped the relationship between narrative, sound and perception on the small screen. First broadcast in 1990, Twin Peaks initially aired for two seasons between 1990 and 1991, before returning in 2017 with a third season that radically redefined the boundaries of television storytelling. From the outset, the series introduced an unprecedented fusion of crime drama, soap opera, surrealism and metaphysical horror, filtered through Lynch’s authorial vision as director and Frost’s narrative architecture. What began as an apparently familiar small-town mystery gradually evolved into an increasingly unstable universe, dissolving linear narration and pushing television into territories that were previously unthinkable. Across its three seasons, Twin Peaks expanded into a complex exploration of dreams, alternate realities, fragmented identities and temporal dislocation, transforming the medium of television into a space for long-form experimentation and subconscious...  more

credits

released June 18, 2026

REVIEWS

Bad Alchemy
Unexplained Sounds Group – Eighth Tower Records (Naples)
With Night Falls. Music Inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks (USG117), Raffaele Pezzella deepens the reverence for the thrill of David Lynch's fantastical cinema already demonstrated with The Eraserhead (USG110). Five of the fellow devotees were already involved the first time around: Craig Varian, with 400 Lonely Things as "Dark New Age for the New Dark Age" and his hauntological fondness for the Green Man and for Thoreau, lets 'Butterfly' drift through melancholic guitar loops. Kabra darkens the Red Room with 'Black Soil' and lets a Haunted Ballroom and Skull Island echo through the walls. Mark Hjorthoy in Vancouver, together with David Strother in Olympia, WA, sets 'A Rabbit In The Moon' spinning with trembling guitar strings. Oubys, the USG-seasoned Wannes Wolf in Hasselt, lays mournfully plucked flowers on the grave of Julee Cruise (1956–2022) with 'For Julee'. And Richard Bégin — the professor of Media & Film Studies in Montreal, fascinated by H.R. Giger, William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, ESP and Gysin's Dreamachine, and a perennial USG guest — offers 'Dale Cooper's Doppelgänger', humming, distorted and sorrowful. Joel Gilardini, the drone-loving, doomsterish guitarist in Zurich, already a fellow reader of J.G. Ballard and Neuromancer and a contributor to tributes to Dario Argento and Dreamachine, is now also Lynched with 'Traces to Nowhere'. David Kovacs, a Hungarian between fog and facts, between night and dawn, unsettles and seduces on 'Dreaming in a Grey Lodge' with knocking sounds, bass strokes, and dreamlike guitar tones. Mario Lino Stancati, the éminence grise of USG and Eighth Tower, ranging from Burroughs, Cronenberg, Dante, Dracula, Fulci, Hellraiser to Lovecraft, Poe and Tarkovsky, is naturally here too, with 'Fire Walks Through Wires' — demonic yet with thundersheet irony. Paolo L. Bandera (of Sshe Retina Stimulants), another node in Pezzella's network, has infernally orchestrated 'Agente Atomico Episodico' as a ghost-train revue with gurgling voices. Yousef Kawar, oscillating in New York between guitar rock and dark ambient, tilts once more toward the dark side with 'Whispers in the Black Lodge'. Rapoon takes us with 'Snoqualmie Falls' to the original locations in Washington, elegiacally stirring strings and keys. Zuleika AvTes, who came from Brazil to London, shows as Glass Isle — with her whispers and stippling on 'Haze' — that Lynch fascinates women too, as of course he does. Pierre Laplace in Lille, once singer-guitarist in Vera Clouzot (with Peter Orins on drums), then the male half of The Sandman's Orchestra and finally alone as Beyond the Ghost, draws 'The Velvet Curtain' closed with billowing strings, reverberant piano tones, glockenspiel, and a frail JazzNoir trumpet.
badalchemy.de


Weird Bones
The real triumph of ‘Night Falls’ is that it doesn’t pretend to offer clarity. Each artist approaches the material like someone walking into a room where the lights keep changing colour – you adjust, you squint, you shrug, you keep going. The compilation honours the series by refusing to sand down its edges or explain its logic. It just lets the unease breathe.
weirdbones.co.uk/a-bit-peaky-twin-peaks-reimagined/

Bizzarrechats
bizarrechats.blogspot.com/2026/06/eighth-towers-night-falls-music.html
bizarrechats.blogspot.com/2026/06/eighth-towers-night-falls-stories.html

Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst) for a complimentary copy of this release.
Curated and mastered by Raffaele Pezzella.
Layout by Matteo Mariano.
Published by Unexplained Sounds Group
Cat. Num. USG117
© 2026 All rights reserved
experimental ambient ambient music avant-garde drone improvisation musique concrete sound art Italy

Unexplained Sounds Group Italy

Global Network Of Aural Disorientation founded and curated by Raffaele Pezzella

Subsidiaries:

eighthtowerrecords
...  more

c


 

23 June 2026: Yes "Aurora"; Parallel Worlds "Explorer"

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Aurora is the twenty-fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 12 June 2026 by InsideOut Music and Sony Music.

Yes started work on the album shortly after the release of Mirror to the Sky in May 2023. As with the band's immediate preceding albums, guitarist Steve Howe resumed his role as producer, and orchestral arrangements were provided. Unlike the last two albums, the orchestral parts of the album were provided by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The album was released on CD, LP, Blu-ray, and digital platforms, with some editions containing additional artwork by long-time Yes cover artist Roger Dean.[3]


 

Review of the new YES album ‘Aurora’ out on June 12th, 2026

by Geoff Bailie

After 58 years, 24 studio albums, and a catalogue that helped define progressive rock, how should we approach a new album by Yes? The 2025 USA Fragile Tour programme described Yes as a band who “constantly evolve and create a sound unlike anyone else’s”, with each member bringing “exceptional skill and a distinctive style to the shared vision”. So does Aurora deliver against that definition?

The current – and now longest-standing – line-up has barely paused for breath since the release of The Quest in late 2021. Mirror to the Sky followed in 2023, with Jay Schellen stepping fully into the drum role after the passing of Alan White, and many fans felt that album represented another step forward. All the while, the band toured the world performing classic Yes albums, deep cuts, and newer material with real conviction. And so to Aurora, the third Yes studio album released through Inside Out Music – and, for me, the strongest album of the Jon Davison era so far.

What sets Aurora apart is that it finally sounds like a fully unified band rather than a collection of exceptional musicians preserving a legacy. The last two albums certainly had strong moments, but perhaps felt a little cautious. Here there’s a greater willingness to embrace contrasting moods and unexpected musical turns, while still sounding unmistakably like Yes. Add to that a rhythm section that feels genuinely locked in, Geoff Downes’ keyboards pushed much further forward in the mix, and the increasingly rich vocal blend developing between Jon Davison, Steve Howe, and Billy Sherwood, and you have an album with far more personality and confidence.

When we spoke to Jon Davison recently, he attributed some of that evolution to the way this album was created. Mirror to the Sky had begun while Alan White was still alive, with Jay Schellen joining partway through the process. Aurora, by contrast, was shaped by all five members from start to finish — and you can hear the difference.

The album opens magnificently. Downes’ piano, joined by Paul K Joyce’s orchestration, creates a cinematic opening that genuinely feels like the start of an event. If you ever wanted a Yes intro tape for a live show, surely this is it! Repeated listens reveal recurring motifs and clever musical callbacks throughout the opening title track, along with an impressive variety of keyboard and guitar textures. The arrangement keeps evolving without ever losing momentum.

Then comes “Turnaround Situation,” which captures the “complex simplicity” that has always sat at the heart of great Yes music. Strong harmonies, Hammond organ, and Howe’s signature guitar riffing suddenly give way to one of the album’s first genuinely surprising moments: Steve delivers a beautifully loose jazz-style solo, but played on nylon-string guitar. It’s completely unexpected and absolutely right for the song. The middle section – piano, slide steel guitar, and a quietly superb rhythm section underneath – is another reminder of how well this line-up now functions as an ensemble.

“Love Lies Dreaming” shifts the mood again. Sherwood’s bass work in the introduction is excellent, and the song provides one of the album’s more reflective moments without losing the richness of the arrangements around it. One of the album’s biggest strengths is the sheer variety of sounds it contains. Acoustic guitars, layers of keyboards, orchestration, unusual guitar tones – all of it feels carefully considered without becoming over-produced. The mix is particularly impressive, giving every instrument space while still preserving the density that makes Yes music feel immersive.

Of course, many prog fans will head straight for the epic “Countermovement,” perhaps hoping for “Close to the Edge Part 2.” Thankfully, that’s not what this is! Structurally, the closest comparison is probably Abbey Road Side Two: a sequence of interconnected musical ideas flowing naturally into one another rather than a single recurring thematic framework. That approach suits the piece perfectly. Howe’s delicate opening vocal in the Anytime Soon section is one of the album’s most unexpectedly moving moments, before the Blink Of An Eye section built around identity and artificial intelligence (the “in the blink of AI” lyric genuinely made me smile) brings a contemporary edge without sounding forced. Schellen and Sherwood deliver a strong instrumental detour and the track closes with a beautifully understated a cappella reprise that lingers long after the song ends.

“Ariadne” takes another left turn entirely, drawing on Greek mythology without becoming overly literal in its storytelling. The atmosphere here is superb. Strings, layered vocals, strange guitar textures, and some particularly strong vocal work from Billy Sherwood create one of the album’s most cinematic tracks. This is also where the production really shines: lavish and detailed, occasionally over-the-top, but always in service of the music rather than simply showing off!

Then comes perhaps the album’s biggest surprise. “All Hands On Deck” opens with one of the heaviest guitar riffs heard on a Yes album in years – when Hammond organ is added, it’s almost a modern day Deep Purple-style sound initially. Davison sings much of the track in a lower than normal register, reinforcing how far beyond simply “sounding like Jon Anderson” his role in the band has evolved. Howe’s lead vocal in the chorus works brilliantly, especially when paired with Davison’s responses, while Downes contributes clever keyboard interjections, sympathetic to the organic sound of this track. One major takeaway from Aurora overall is how much more present Geoff feels within the arrangements. The long-established working relationship between Howe and Downes now seems fully settled in the modern Yes context; both players understand exactly where their sounds complement rather than compete with one another.

The album’s instrumental-with-vocals piece, “Outside The Box,” is another genuinely unusual moment in the Yes catalogue. Beginning as a delicate acoustic guitar composition accompanied by layered “la la la” vocals that somehow evoke both Leave It and medieval choral music, the track gradually expands into something stranger and far more atmospheric. Drums, bass, electric guitar textures, and ambient soundscapes slowly emerge around it. It’s adventurous, slightly eccentric, and exactly the sort of risk a band at this stage of its career could easily avoid taking – but they took it, and I’m glad they did!

The closing track, “Emotional Intelligence,” strips things back again. Built around piano and a strong central melody, it highlights Davison’s growing importance to the band not only as a vocalist but as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. There’s a confidence to his writing throughout Aurora that feels notably stronger than on previous albums.

The bonus tracks continue the unusually high standard. “Jambustin’” provides a lighter change of pace, while “Watching The River Roll” feels far too substantial to be dismissed as a bonus. Howe’s Portuguese guitar, Sherwood’s vocal, and the flowing arrangement briefly hint at “Your Move” territory before moving somewhere entirely its own. The keyboard and guitar interplay here is especially effective.

I’m not sure any of us entirely know what we expect from a new Yes album in 2026 – perhaps the band itself doesn’t either. But Aurora succeeds because it doesn’t try to recreate the past and instead focuses on what this version of Yes uniquely does well. The dynamics, diversity, musicianship, and sheer confidence on display throughout these 60 minutes reveal a band that is still creatively alive, still evolving, and still capable of taking listeners somewhere unexpected.

And ultimately, that feels completely true to the description from the Fragile tour programme: “exceptional skill and a distinctive style brought to a shared vision”. Aurora doesn’t simply remind us what Yes once were; it makes a convincing case for what they still can be.

released June 19, 2026

All tracks composed, arranged and produced by Bakis Sirros during 2025.
Thanks to: friends and family, John Sirros, Alessandro Vaccaro, Lorenzo Montana, Mamonu, Ingo Zobel, Dimitris Pavlidis, Angelos Ioakimoglou, Andreas Vamvakaris.
Mastered by Lorenzo Montana’
Cover design by LoMo
Machines used:
Eurorack modular (including modules by Qu-Bit, Synthesis Technology, Make Noise, Instruo, Xaoc Devices, Frap Tools, Doepfer, 4ms company, Noise Engineering, Buchla Tiptop Audio, Befaco, Neuzeit, Strymon, Steady State Fate, Cosmotronic, Hexinverter, Industrial Music Electronics, Endorphin.es, Behringer and others), Analogue Systems RS-Integrator modular, Roland System-8, korg Prologue, Wavestate, Opsix, SQ64, MS2000R, ASM Hydrasynth, Novation Peak, Kodamo EssenceFM mk2, Yamaha TG77, Waldorf Microwave, Behringer Model-D.
link: facebook.com/parallelworldsmusic
 
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