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Prolific singer/songwriter and frontman for The Pineapple Thief, Bruce Soord, returns with a new solo album titled ‘Luminescence.’ While Soord’s music has always been largely melancholic and mellow, the tracks on this intimate collection are slightly even more subdued then his last solo release, 2019’s All This Will Be Yours.’ But that is not a negative here as these songs are beautiful, contemplative, and still very engaging. Soord proves once again he is one of the today’s best storytellers.
The album begins with the gorgeous “Dear Life” a thought provoking track about how delicate life is singing, “don’t wish it away,
don’t wish that it will all be over.” Built around his voice, an acoustic guitar, and a simple drum loop, the song captures what the album is about in a brief 3 minutes.
“Lie Flat” provides a little more tempo and atmospheric synth sounds around a Soord’s reverbed vocals. This is another enchanting song. But the song that has perhaps the best hook on the album is the 3rd track “Olomouc.” The song starts with just Soord and an acoustic guitar, but the chorus pops out of nowhere and is simply breathtaking. This is a really great track. Other outstanding tracks include “So Simple” the title fits perfectly, and the second single “Nestle In” which is the albums most upbeat song by a slight margin. The album closes on the orchestral “Find Peace,” a wonderful way to conclude.
Soord doesn’t reinvent anything on this album, but rather does what he does brilliantly. He creates a mood and an atmosphere with his music as only he can do. The songs here are beautiful and make for a great listen. While many fans might still be on edge for the next Pineapple Thief album, this is a great collection to get you through that period.
Released on Sept. 22nd, 2023 on Kscope‘Luminescence’ track list:
Dear Life [03:03]
Lie Flat [03:51]
Olomouc [03:55]
So Simple [02:05]
Never Ending Light [04:13]
Day of All Days [03:23]
Nestle In [03:15]
Instant Flash of Light [03:36]
Rushing [03:03]
Stranded Here [03:41]
Read to Me [02:07]
Find Peace [04:45]
Order the album here: https://BruceSoord.lnk.to/Luminescence
A browse of the hundreds of album reviews I have posted on this wonderful little website (self-praise being a virtue) will show the reader that there are very few reviews of live albums. There is a reason for this – I prefer to listen to, and review, new music. It is rare that bands introduce new music in the live arena, and it can be commercial suicide to do so. Further, a recording of a gig does not often mirror the sheer joy and emotion the live experience brings.
I have, though, made an exception for Back In These Arms, the new live double CD issued by one of my favourite acts, Mostly Autumn, a band who continue to provide discerning music fans with thoughtful, emotional, powerful, and above all intelligent rock music. The CD was purchased for me as a birthday present in late December.
I first saw the band live at Patti Pavillion in Swansea, a tiny roundhouse of a venue and, as Bryan Josh subsequently said to me in a conversation in Cardiff, utterly unsuited to the band. That was on a tour following the release of The Last Bright Light. We then saw them a couple of years later in Cardiff on The Passengers tour, when I had said discussion with the great man. We very rarely get to live shows these days, and it has been a wee while since the band came remotely close to us in West Wales, so this live release chronicling the band’s return to live music after the impact of Covid was both welcome and really my only realistic opportunity to enjoy the live MA “experience”. I was also extremely curious to see how one of the finest releases of recent years by any band dealing with said pandemic, Graveyard Star, would translate to the live arena. The album does not disappoint.
The setlist is a treat, well over two hours which includes bona fide MA classics such as The Last Climb, Nowhere to Hide, Spirit of Autumn Past, Passengers, Mother Nature and thence through to a strong showing for recent works. There are also a couple of rather pleasant surprises such as the exceptional Gaze, a track you will have needed to have purchased the bonus CD version of 2006’s Heart Full Of Sky to have heard before (take a listen below and enjoy) and In for the Bite, a track from the spinoff Josh & Co Ltd Transylvania album.
For all the classics and the surprises, it is, though, to these ears the later Autumn tracks which shine and are played with a vitality and urgency. I really enjoyed 2017’s Sight of Day, and in my review of the album described it as an album of light in direct contrast to the bleakness of Dressed in Voices (which I still regard as being one of the top five albums I have the pleasure to own). Opener Tomorrow Dies is a rollicking way to start a set, with Olivia Sparnenn-Josh beginning as she would continue throughout the gig, in exceptional vocal form – what a set of pipes she has. Changing Lives features the vocal talents of Chris Johnson and he, Bryan Josh, and Angela Gordon provide for a group of vocalists bringing words alive with feeling. The album provides the final encore in Forever and Beyond, and by this time they can do no wrong. A sensitive anthemic track, listen with sheer joy at Angela Gordon’s whistle introducing the lovely mid-section love song of Bryan & Olivia before the closing section lifts your spirit and fills you with joy.
The longest epic piece is the superb title track from White Rainbow at over 19 minutes, with a deeply brooding opening sequence before Bryan makes his vocal entrance. The rendition of this is cracking (with nods to other heights), not once losing the interest of the listener and what helps, by the way, is the crystal-clear sound which is a feature of the entire performance.
To me, though, it is the band’s wonderful paeon to the dreadful Covid period which takes centre stage for much of the gig, and live they do this fine album justice. Spirit of Mankind races along with Olivia belting out the tribute to our indefatigability and Jennings especially strong on keyboards. Its warmth is strongly replicated on this live performance, and how nice it was to have the band continue to surprise us with something so completely different after all these years. This Endless War drips with emotion and takes you right back to the time when you felt that it really would never end. Back in These Arms, a song of freedom, starts with a gorgeous key and guitar duet and as Bryan & Olivia start singing, the musical backdrop is fresh and vital, a piece of music for the 21st century. When the main riff kicks in, the urgency is felt keenly. The pipes are gorgeous. A video is embedded below – if you have never heard anything of Mostly Autumn, or gave up in the past, take a listen to this track below and rush out and buy the fantastic music you have been missing.
I only really have one very minor quibble with this album, and that is the surprising quietness of the audience in the mix. Mind you, you could also say that about many of the “classic” live albums such as Genesis Live et al, so this is nothing new in the world of prog, but they do seem subdued and I am pretty sure that was not the case in the flesh, so to speak.
Pettiness aside, Back In These Arms is I believe the definitive live record of Mostly Autumn, surpassing to these ears the exceptional That Night in Leamington, and I say this because this is the sound of a band who nod to the classics, but also continue to drive their art forward.
Available at all the usual outlets, this album comes highly recommended.
Black Programs Facility is a project by Zerok label featuring albums from four label veterans: Joel Gilardini, Lars Bröndum, Mombi Yuleman, and Vongoiva - "Nocturnal" by Joel Gilardini
- "Wall Of Darkness" by Lars Bröndum
- "Abductee" by Mombi Yuleman
- "The Fabric Of Space and Time" by Vongoiva
NOCTURNAL
Recorded live at Exil Club, Zürich/CH, 13.06.2022, Montags 915
Mixed and mastered at Nowhere Studio, Zürich/CH, 14.06.2022
Joel Gilardini is an experimental guitarist and sound designer, based in Zurich (Switzerland).
He’s known for his live ambient duties as an opening act for Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin in Zurich’s clubs, besides being the mastermind of the experimental-doom-sludge project The Land Of The Snow and member of the noise-industrial combos such Mulo Muto (with Attila Folklor/CH) and Psychic Drones (with Kazuyuki Kishino/JP).
Furthermore, Joel works as a soundtrack composer for theater and dance performances. In this context he has collaborated with ensembles such as the Junior Ballett Zurich, Swiss dancer Benoît Favre, and the collective House Of Pain.
Joel Gilardini plays: baritone guitars, guitars pedals, electronics & live-looping.
REVIEWS
Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2023/12/01/amn-reviews-joel-gilardini-lars-brondum-mombi-yuleman-vongoiva-black-programs-facility-2023-zerok
This Is Darkness
Black Programs Facility is a project by the ever awesome ZeroK label and features albums from of their four label veterans: Joel Gilardini, Lars Bröndum, Mombi Yuleman, and Vongoiva. The music here includes dark ambient, looping drones, electro-acoustic soundscapes, and experimental noise ambient. Each of these 28 tracks is of the highest quality, and each of the 4 albums here would be worth getting individually, they are all that good – getting all 4 albums together is simply incredible!
Mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst)
Design by RhaD
Cat. Num. ZK08
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