I've been waiting for this new album from the English for 'Fish On Friday' for a while, whose remarkable last album 'Quiet Life' was from 2017 (and which I unfortunately discovered too late for a chronicle). The band with seasoned artists that are 'Frank Van Bogaert' and 'Nick Beggs' (bass player in various prestigious projects with among others 'The Mute Gods' , 'Steven Wilson', 'Steve Hackett', 'Lonely Robot' or 'Mariana Semkina') therefore released a new album called 'Black Rain'. From the first listen, we tell ourselves that we are holding an album which will undoubtedly be one of the best releases in 2020 in a delicate and refined progressive rock and, the 11 tracks take us on a journey in a progressive landscape influenced by the big names of the genre with in mind, of course, 'Steven Wilson' and his project 'Blackfield' but also other names which are dear to me like the Germans of 'RPWL' or the English of 'Big Big Train'.
From the start, with 'Life in Towns', we are lulled by the magnificent melody that takes us on a small cloud in a soft and melancholic atmosphere with remarkable vocal harmonies, then, with its 8 minutes, 'Murderous Highland Highway' continues in this way with alternations of tempos and intensity with 'Floydian' passages brought by the keyboards and a 'Wilsonian' melody. Follows the eponymous title of the album, shorter, but more energetic with influences of the 80s and it is the name of 'Barclay James Harvest' which comes to my mind, and 'Mad of the World' continues in this pop register with a melody that is instantly tamed. Sweetness is then there with 'Letting Go of You' which highlights the beautiful fragile and emotion-filled voice of 'Lula Beggs' and which offers us a superb final, and as for 'Angel of Mercy', the memorable melody and the atmosphere remind me the atmospheres of 'RPWL' and 'We've Come Undone' speeds up the tempo for a track in which 'Lula Beggs' shares the song with 'Frank Van Bogaert' in a magnificent duet. The end of the album contains four fairly short titles : first of all, the relaxing 'Morphine' which unfolds a relaxing melody, the luminous 'We Choose to be Happy', quite offbeat from the general melancholic atmosphere and which is, somehow, the 'Permanating' of 'Fish On Friday', 'Trapped in Heaven' with popaccents and finally the symphonic 'Diamonds' which closes this magnificent album with a last beautiful vocal performance of 'Frank Van Bogaert' accompanied by 'Lula Beggs'.
In summary, the English of 'Fish On Friday' offers us for this year 2020 a remarkable album which should remain in the memory of all those who love a soothing progressive and 'Black Rain' is to be tasted in a quiet place, the headphones on your ears, to relax from a difficult day... | |
