It's Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week! Five new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Thanks once again to music festivals getting in the way, we're having to make this week's Tracks Of The Week live ahead of last week's closing, so we can't congratulate the winners here. However we will be posting the winning video on Monday on our socials, so keep your eyes peeled!
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it? The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier, could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
IAMTHEMORNING - CHALK & COAL
UK-based chamber prog duo Iamthemorning will release their Live at St Matthias concert film and album book on September 5. The band launched the ambitious project, on the back of a very special show at the North London venue last year, with a Kickstarter campaign which smashed through their initial goal within three hours and went on to exceed the existing stretch goals in the first 10 hours. The campaign is still ongoing, with new goals set, as the band, who no longer use a record label and therefore have to fund their own touring, and indeed the recording of studio album number five.
"Over the last few years we managed to build such a wonderful community that being independent musicians doesn't really scare us anymore," says Marjana Semkina. "This release is happening thanks to the support of our fanbase, that are currently funding it through Kickstarter, and not a record label that would also take away our rights to our music for years.
You can pledge to the band's Kickstarter campaign here.
RING VAN MÖBIUS - FIREBRAND
It was very sad day in the Prog office when Norwegian retro prog rock trio Ring Van Möbius announced they were calling it a day. They'd only released three albums, and we loved their infectious sense of fun and evident love of classic prog sounds. Now they've announced they will release their final album, Firebrand, through Apollon Records on October 3 and have shared the title track as a taster of what's to come.
“Being able to now close this chapter with such a huge sparkling concept album feels terrific and quite satisfying," the band say. "We really do feel that the inspiring playfulness during these spontaneous recording sessions shines through. Obviously, it’s important to us to end this journey while sounding on top of our game, while still having fun! A tremendous finale, directly from the analog Spectral Tape Studio”
LEPROUS - TAKE ON ME
As you may have seen on the Prog website last week, Norwegian prog metallers Leprous stepped up for musician tutorial website Musora's Covers On The Spot challenge in which they get musicians and bands to cover a well-known song that often has some link with the band, but which they don't know until they're in the studio with presenter and Musora content director Ron Jackson. Leprous were handed fellow Norwegian's a-ha's 1985 smash hit Take On Me. The actual performance starts at about 11.06 into the video, although the entire thing is great fun to watch as the band put their own unique slant on the well-known song.
"I loved it. It was intense, but amazing," states singer Einar Solberg once the band have performed their cover version. "It's not really that far away from us anyway..."
JO QUAIL - FIRST RAIN
Following tours with Wardruna and God is an Astronaut, composer and sound designer Jo Quail recently announced details on her seventh album, Notan, which she releases on September 12 through her own label, Adderstone Records. The delicate, piano-led First Rain is the second single to be released from the upcoming album.
"First Rain arrived almost without ceremony — and seemed to emerge fully formed. It’s the first time I’ve brought piano into my recorded work, and capturing it with a very basic single mic set-up felt fitting for this piece - instinctive and unfiltered. I've included it on Notan because I have a strong feeling this is where it belongs."
OUR OCEANS - LOST IN BLUE
Dutch prog trio Our Oceans, who feature members of Cynic and Exivious, will release their third album, Right Here, Right Now, through Long Branch Records on October 24. The emotional and atmospheric Lost In Blue is the second single to be released ahead of the new album.
"Lost In Blue is a much more introspective and personal song, reminiscent of our debut album," comments band leader Tymon Kruidenier. "I prefer not to divulge too much about my lyrics; I’d rather let the listener form their own interpretation. So, staying true to that, I’ll leave the meaning open-ended and instead focus on the music. The musical embryo for this song actually came from Robin, specifically the alternating C major to B major progression. I built the rest of the song around that idea. For the instrumental section, I wanted to try something we hadn’t done before: a dual bass/guitar solo. In line with the song’s lyrical theme, I envisioned the bass and guitar parts dancing around each other, creating a sense of entanglement and interplay. It ultimately didn’t end up sounding much like a traditional solo, but I love how it turned out regardless."
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