It is with 'Once Around the Sun' that I discover the Scottish formation 'Long Earth' composed of talented artists with a first album 'The Source' released in 2017. Their influences are quite vast and varied and go from the 70s to nowadays in a rock style mixing energietic tracks and others quieter all this being judiciously positioned in the album.
Indeed, the first 5 tracks alternate energy and serenity : first of all 'We Own Tomorrow' takes us back to the 70s with an introduction close to 'Genesis', a fairly marked rhythm and a remarkable instrumental finale , then 'My Suit of Armor' is a beautiful stripped piano/voice and melancholic ballad which introduces the electric instruments and the drums in the last part and 'A Guy from Down the Road' is a long title whose first part is based on an energetic rhythm and a fairly linear bass which can remind some hard-rock bands of the 70s and which offers a second part much more progressive and almost entirely instrumental with a much quieter final and finally, 'What About Love' and 'The Man in the Mirror 'are more conventional pop songs with light and relaxing melodies. The rest of the album offers a set of 4 much more peaceful songs, each representing a season : 'Spring' offers us a light atmosphere which represents the happy awakening of spring and which reminds me of the ballads of 'Barclay James Harvest' , then 'Summer' begins in a progressive style and continues in the same atmosphere as the previous title with the singing of 'Martin Haggarty' and subtle keyboards which go very well with the beautiful calm and soothing melody and which ends with an atmospheric instrumental part after a hot summer day. As for the last two seasons, 'Autumn' begins with a melancholic symphonic part then keeps this feeling in the form of a beautiful calm and serene ballad and finally, 'Winter', the longest title of the album is a perfect summary of the whole but not necessarily in phase with the harshness of winter since it transports us with beautiful melodic lines, in a warm song with limpid and harmonious instrumental passages in a beautiful and soothing journey ending in a gentle decrescendo.
In summary, this new album from the Scots of 'Long Earth' shows all the talent of this formation which succeeds in mixing different styles to release an album very pleasant to listen to and 'Once Around the Sun' should please all those and those who like light and serene atmospheres between pop and rock with some more catchy and energetic compositions... | |
