It's Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week! Five new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Congratulations to Iamthemorning, whose live clip of Chalk & Coal, from their upcoming Live at St Matthias concert film and album book, won last week's Tracks Of The Week. Jo Quail was in second place and Dutch prog trio Our Oceans were third.
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.
JONATHAN HULTÉN - DAWN
Quite why enigmatic prog artist Jonathan Hultén isn't a massive star is one of modern music's great imponderables! The former Tribulation guitarist released his second studio album, Eyes Of The Living Night, through Kscope at the beginning of the year. Despite Hultén's metal past, there's no riff-laden fare on offer on his solo work, but rather richly atmospheric and engagingly textured music that draws the listener in. Perhaps the gently reflective Dawn might be a good place to start for those who think modern prog is all "blokes with big beards wearing black" ( see ongoing Letters pages debate in the mag for explanation).
“Dawn was the first song that was written for what would become the album Eyes Of The Living Night," says Hultén. "With piano, electric guitars, buzzing synthesisers, a lo-fi-inspired beat and video game references from the SNES era, Dawn flows through themes of emotional renewal and transitions between life's different phases. It’s a short, melancholic journey that conveys a simple appreciation of existence itself, despite (or because of) its ephemeral nature."
SWALLOW THE SUN - VELVET CHAINS
Doom-laden Finnish prog metallers Swallow The Sun are another band who seem to be judged before a chord has been heard by some, in which case the sweet piano-led, almost poppy strains of Velvet Chains might serve as a perfect introduction. The song is taken from the band's 2024 album, Shining, which garnered the band their very first Finnish Grammy Award. Swallow The Sun will be touring the UK in December.
The band are understandably in celebratory mood. "We’re also incredibly grateful to all of you who have supported us and listened to our music along the way, this means the world to us," they enthuse.
MARK TRUEACK - SHOW ME HOW TO LOVE
Fans of Truey's work with Unitopia and United Progressive Fraternity might be a bit taken aback by the soul and jazz tones of his new single, Show Me How To Love. It's taken from his upcoming new solo album, Journeys Groove - An Adventure In Life, which will be released through OOB Records in October, and sees him working once again with his old Unitopia pal Sean Timms (and with artwork from Ed Unitsky, obviosuly). It's the first in a planned trilogy of releases.
"The accompanying video, created by Michael Camlo, captures the essence and emotional depth of the single. In contrast to Trueack’s previous work with Unitopia, UPF or Romantechs, this new chapter sees him dive into a more personal narrative through a bold fusion of musical styles," say the label.
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN - CROSSROADS
Icelandic retro prog rockers The Vintage Caravan have moved from featuring Opeth singer Mikael Åkerfeldt on their previous single, Philosopher, to flexing their prog rock chops on new single, Crossroads, which is taken from their upcoming album, Portals, which they release through Napalm Records on September 26
"The song, which is a slight departure from our previous work, almost ended up on our album Monuments," bassist Alexander Örn Númason explains. "Ultimately, we felt like the time wasn’t right but fast forward a few years, we had a few playthroughs, and finally we felt like we were able to do the song justice.
"This album is very much about trying out new styles and techniques, and this was the perfect fit for this diverse catalogue of songs. At this point in our career, we feel like we can really try completely new things and just allow songs to be what they are without having to adhere to a certain style, and I think it really shows with this album."
TERAMAZE - AN ORDINARY DREAM
Fans of workaholic Australian proggers Teramaze are most likely to hail 2015's fifth album from the band, Her Halo, as being one of the finest in the band's ever-growing canon of work. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the record, the band have re-recorded the whole thing, live at Bakehouse Studios in Melbourne, from which comes this live take of the epic twelve and a half minutes of An Ordinary Dream.
“Her Halo was where everything shifted — the sound, the stories, the emotion," says guitarist Dean Wells. "It opened a door to who we truly are as artists. Ten years on, Live At Bakehouse Studios feels like the movie version of our lives in music — raw, intimate, and powerful. We captured lightning that night.”
NYOS - SUPERSTAR
NYOS are an instrumental art rock duo, comprising of UK-born guitarist Tom Brooke and drummer Tuomas Kainulainen, who met after Brooke had moved to Finland and the pair bonded over a mutual love of noisy bands and coffee. The pair will release their latest album, Growl, through Pelagic Records in October, from which comes the driving, off-the-wall sounds of new single Superstar.
"Superstar was the working title for the record for a long time (before Growl took over and felt way more fitting) - but it became attached to this song regardless, and we're excited to release this one as the second single from the album," the pair sday. This one came out super fast during a really fun rehearsal/writing session (during which four out of the nine songs from the record basically came out fully formed all at once) and just instantly felt like a late summer single, so things just worked out perfect - we took a band holiday to Vietnam instead of doing a spring tour this year, and filmed some footage with the idea that it could be the material for our friend Pietu to manipulate into a music video for the song - he absolutely nailed it and we're thrilled to finally be able to share it."
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