French keyboardist 'Vivien Lalu' returned to the forefront of the progressive scene in 2022 after eight years of absence with 'Paint the Sky', his previous album 'Atomik Ark' having been released in 2013. This time, while I had discovered 'Paint the Sky' quite late without having reviewed it, it only waited for a big year to bring out this 'The Fish Who Wanted To Be King' whose humorous title is reminiscent of La Fontaine's fable 'La Grenouille qui se veut faire aussi grosse que le bœuf' and which makes us return to the Dadaism movement at the beginning of the twentieth century which called into question all conventions in all areas whatsoever. And this questioning of established things, we find it in the music of 'Vivien Lalu' who takes us into his musical universe influenced by progressive trends throughout the ages and who also adds boundless creativity to make it a work unique.
On the menu of this opus, seven compositions including two long developments, for a short hour of listening, and, 'Forever Digital' which begins the album, first of all shows a fairly conventional face marked by influences progressive music from the 70s with a part sung divinely well by 'Damian Wilson' (among others 'Arena' and ex 'Threshold'), then, while keeping the same tempo, wanderings of keyboards and guitar take us into a more unbridled but very original part to then return to the initial theme with a finale which falls back into a magnificent acoustic vocal/guitar duo. The ten minutes of the album's eponymous title (see the video above) continue our beautiful progressive journey with different influences including these 'Floydian' guitar parts which show, here and there, an atmospheric face but it would be very reductive to limit it to this style because other influences dot this composition which offer us multiple rhythmic changes, 'Jelly Cardarelli' doing a remarkable job on the drums. With 'Deoxyribonucleic Acid' we find more contemporary progressive influences and, in certain places, I have the impression of hearing 'Arena', the vocals of 'Damien Wilson' certainly being no stranger to this feeling, then , 'Is That a London Number' (see the video here) continues in this inventive progressive which requires several listens to fully master it. Another major stone of the album, 'Amnesia 1916' is a real progressive labyrinth with these first contrasts between this soaring introduction which engages in a rapid sung section with a feeling of urgency which is suddenly broken by a magnificent aerial atmospheric part. 'Damian Wilson' shows all his vocal talent by adapting perfectly to the numerous changes in intensity and tempos which make it a typical title of an imaginative progressive breaking all established conventions and which fits perfectly with the theme of the album. Harder to get to grips with for my part, the instrumental 'A Reversal Of Fortune' turns in the first part towards jazz-fusion, showing another side of the composer of 'Vivien Lalu', then, after an atmospheric break, continues by a section in which 'Joop Wolters' offers us two very beautiful guitar solos. 'The Wondering Kind' closes the album with a final composition, easier to access for me, which fuses several decades of progressive with multiple references that come to mind, whether they are linked to the 70s or more recent with the major formations of this style, groups like 'Threshold' or 'Arena' never being far away.
In summary, it is another very beautiful album that 'Vivien Lalu' offers us, well accompanied by talented artists, and this 'The Fish Who Wanted To Be King' is representative of a progressive trend which draws on all the decades of this style while bringing boundless creativity to make it a unique work. The other side of the coin is that its density necessarily requires you to linger on it to fully absorb it and to draw out all the substance, which will certainly limit it to an informed audience... | |
