The duo 'Damian Wilson'/'Adam Wakeman' returns with a new album, 'Can We Leave With The Light On Longer?' after 'The Sun Will Dance in Its Twilight Hour' in 2018 and 'Strippes' in 2019. We therefore find these two endearing artists who offer us 10 new original compositions, the theme of the album, I quote: "telling how we are connected as human beings and what drives us to be alive. It tells tales of hopeful inspiring dreams and our fight to live and function, with the ultimate and inevitable loss we face through mortality.". We know that these two artists have several strings to their bow, since 'Damian Wilson' participates in different projects ranging from rock to progressive metal (among others, 'Arena', 'Lalu' and the Arjen Lucassen' projects) and Adam Wakeman', beyond the fact that he played as a keyboardist with 'Ozzy Ozbourne ' and 'Black Sabbath', has a classical background and has released several solo albums, the latest of which is part 2 of jazz covers of 'Black Sabbath' under the name 'Jazz Sabbath', for the record, 'Adam Wakeman' having invented a crazy story of these two releases by making believe that the first songs on 'Black Sabbath' were written by a jazz group.
But let's come back to this opus which brings together very beautiful compositions in different atmospheres: first of all, in the section of light and luminous titles which put you in shape for a whole day, the title song offers us melodic lines catchy on a catchy rhythm and we can also cite the radiant 'The Battle of the Bare Knuckle Fighter' with its remarkable, much calmer break in the second part. But the majority of the titles are much more introspective and all release a beautiful emotion: the opener 'Artificial Interference' is magnificent with this piano/voice duet accompanied by some percussion, 'Damian Wilson' giving a high-level vocal performance which cannot be than touch. As for 'The Man From The Island' which is introduced by wonderful celestial choirs, it continues in this refined and deep style and it is 'Adan Wakeman' who sings on this title bringing a very particular tenderness, then, 'Let's Talk ', for my part, raises the emotional slider yet another level with these airy sounds of Hammond accompanying Damian's plaintive voice. We continue in the same style with 'Turn Your Life Around' which begins as a piano/vocal duet and which gradually gains momentum in a slight crescendo then benefiting from a nice break to then leave for the more rhythmic finale. The next two compositions 'Multiplicity' and 'November' also show a very endearing face, the first sung by 'Damian Wilson' accompanying himself on guitar, 'Adam Wakeman' adding a few piano notes and the second, sung by ' Adam Wakeman' with just guitar accompaniment. And it is again with two beautiful ballads, 'Hero' and 'Addlestone', that the album ends, the last track offering us a final melody which is grafted into the head never to come out.
In summary, 'Damian Wilson' and 'Adam Wakeman', beyond their respective projects, take us once again on a beautiful musical journey, filled with delicacy and serenity, which shows that this collaboration still offers us the best of each, and 'Can We Leave With The Light On Longer?' is an album to enjoy quietly with headphones on to relax after a tiring day... | |
