Welcome to Prog's brand newTracks Of The Week! We've got seven new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Yorkshire-based electronic musician worriedaboutsatan triumphed last week with his gently pulsating A Looming Spectre, ahead of French proggers Esthesis in second place, and the mighty Opeth trailing both in third!
The premise 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.
ARCANE ROOTS - A WAVE, ACROSS THE SEA
There was much celebrating at Prog Towers earlier this week when the return of alt.proggers Arcane Roots was announced with brand new single, the wonderfully atmospheric and melodic A Wave, Across The Sea. We last saw the ban dperorming on the uber prog-friendly bill at Space Rocks at Indigio at the O2 back in 2018 and are especially excited to see that the band, now swelled from a trio to a quintet, will also be appearing at ArcTanGent and 2000 Trees this year too!
"It wasn’t until a chance meeting with Icelandic composer Bjarni Biering, after relocating to Iceland in 2019, that we struck upon the unlikely songwriting partnership that we have today," explains guitarist and vocalist Andrew Groves of the band's return. "Within a short time we felt we had something to share and began to set the stage to see if this could become the supergroup we’d all dreamed of. We’re still exploring that to this day, that excitement & challenge commands absolutely everything we do and it feels completely limitless right now."
KARNIVOOL - ANIMATION
Australian prog rockers Karnivool will release their first new album in 13 years when they finally release their fourth studio album, In Verses, on February 6 through Cymatic Records/Sony Music. Much anticipated, the band have been teasing fans in the build-up with a string of ruchly atmospheric singles from the album, the last of which, Animation, is out now, and like previous singles, leaves you excited for the new album!
"Animation leans into new space found within the rhythm section," the band say. "It holds the pulse of In Verses - tight, detailed, tense. It reflects the frustration, the renewal, and the search for light that runs through the record, all while staying true to our sound.”
PLANTOID - PARASITE
Brighton trio plantoid release their second studio album, FLARE, through the excellent Bella Union label today. And to celebrate the proggy, jazzy, psych outfit have shared a live video for Parasite, the opening track from said album, recorded live at Farm Road Studios in Brighton.
“While making FLARE, we did knowingly acknowledge that our sound had been very erratic,” explains drummer Louis Bradshaw, who, along with vocalist/guitarist Chloe Spence and lead guitarist Tom Coyne make up the nucleus of plantoid. “We never stayed on anything for too long. Before going into writing this album we wanted to slightly redefine what we were doing—it’s less directly proggy. It strays from that sound a bit, while retaining that character.”
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX - RAVENETTES
Multi-national dark rockers Crippled Black Phoenix take a more abrasive turn on their latest album, Sceaduhelm, which they release through Season Of Mist on April 17. The band's darkly atmospheric sound bristles with energy on "an album that withdraws from outward spectacle and turns instead toward interior collapse, exhaustion, and moral attrition," while new single Ravenetes offers something a bit more melodic.
“Ravenettes captures a state of psychological vigilance, where suppressed memories resurface without warning and avoidance proves only briefly effective," the band say. "Ravenettes frames trauma as cyclical rather than resolved, returning again and again as a glitch in the timeline.”
MAEBE - BRAIN PAINT
UK math-rockers Maebe have just announced they've signed to Ripcord Records and released a brand new single, Brain Plant! The band will be appearing at this year's Radar Festival in Manchester in July as well as heading out in their own headline dates in May and June. All while working hard on their brand new studio album for their new label. Busy boys!
“Brain Paint Is a bombastic riff fest – it’s a pretty bold statement of intent, but it’s fun and heartfelt, too,” says band leader and virtuoso guitarist Mike Astley-Brown. “Everyone in the band listens to a lot of instrumental music, and I don’t think any of us have heard anything quite like this.”
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD WEEJUNS - BTICHES BLUES
Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns is the trio that the seemingly ubiquitous titular Norwegain jazz rock guitarist performs in with Elephant 9 keyboardist Ståle Storløkken and drummer Ole Mofjell. The trio will release their new album, Bitches Blue (indeed, a play in the Miles Davis album of similar name), through Rune Grammofon on April 17, and have shared the title track for your listening delectation.
“Weejuns is all about interplay,” explains Mollestad. “Bitches Blues consists of six instrumental tracks, or stretches of music, with an extreme range of dynamics. Some are based around hefty beats, while other tracks are far more lyrical and rubato. It ranges from riff-based rock-ish stuff, to loud chaos, to melancholy ballads and even totally free improvisations.”
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