'2 Years 2 Late' was one of my favorites of 2020 (I still remember this very strong video of 'Change'), and the band 'Let See Thin', after four long years, has just released a new studio recording that offers us eight compositions in an accessible progressive rock, the melodic side being particularly highlighted in this latest baby of the Poles. In 2020, their debut album was unfortunately not an enormous success and, having now signed with the Polish label 'Lynx Music', we can only hope that this will allow them to be known to a wider progressive audience. 'Machine Called Life' is, I quote their bandcamp page, "is a collection of eight stories about life, transience and how our vision of the world has changed over time.".
We are greeted by 'Story of My Life' which offers a catchy rhythm supported by electronic sounds which is the trademark of 'Let See Thin', the melodic side making this first track very accessible. In general, the atmosphere of this first composition will be the guiding thread of 'Machine Called Life' with keyboards that are in the foreground, marked rhythms and catchy melodic lines: 'Divisions' reminds me of the sounds of another Pole, 'Ryszard Kramarski' with his project 'tRKproject' (see the video above), then, 'Sleeping on a Cloud' is my favorite of the album and takes us in the wake of the Germans of 'RPWL' (watch the video here). More moderate but remaining in the continuity of what precedes, 'How' is also very pleasant, 'Łukasz Woszczyński' giving a beautiful vocal performance by bringing a certain depth in this title dealing with the inability of Man to hear his voice in this world which is going badly, then, 'Would It Be', taking us back to the 80s with its introduction to the sounds of 'Alan Parsons', presents this bitter observation that the history of the human species only repeats itself. Followed by 'Treadmill', denouncing the daily routine of most people in the working world, is still a very beautiful composition alternating well-paced sections and others much quieter, then, with 'Sailors', more sedate, we abandon ourselves to the sweet memorable melody, 'Maciej Włodarczyk' offering us a magnificent guitar solo in the second part of the title (too bad the guitarist remains rather discreet in this opus), and the album ends on another beautiful melody with the melancholic 'Strange Neighbourhood' in a measured pop/rock atmosphere, describing these neighbors that we all have, each with their personal happiness and misfortunes.
In summary, this second album of 'Let See Thin', certainly less emotionally strong than the first (the bar was extremely high after the slap taken with '2 Years 2 Late'!), is nevertheless a very good opus of refined progressive rock, and to take up my favorite 'Sleeping on a Cloud', 'Machine Called Life' takes us up to a little cloud to quietly enjoy these eight compositions with catchy melodies... | |
