I love the sweeping intro ‘The Ascent’ and the smooth West Coast AOR of ‘Green Fields’ that follows takes you right back to the days when music was made under blue skies and all was right with the world. It’s a lovely light and breezy song that has the ‘kitchen sink’ in there musically but it’s all deftly wheeled in and arranged rather than thrown in! (In truth you can’t imagine this band not making their beds in the morning).
Indeed this seven piece from Copenhagen must surely be the progeny of Toto and your other favourite AOR band of yesteryear, and they feels like they’ve been making music like this forever. Chris Catton’s vocals are simply wonderful on tracks like the uplifting ‘Sunshine Soul’ which sports some lovely sax, and the more soulful strains of ‘Burning Like a Flame’. In fact this is such a happy album at points it almost has you in tears!
Speaking of which ‘A Fool’s Hope’ is a nice misty-eyed ballad and has a sound that’s almost as indefinable as bands like Hall and Oates. ‘Keep On Movin” adds some rather cool Melodic Rock and the transportative ‘Memory’ again taps that blue-eyed Soul aspect to the classic AOR sound and it me it’s close to perfection when the keys wash in.
And the quality simply doesn’t let up: ‘Only Child’ I must admit for some reason makes me think of Dan Red’s solo material, it’s transfixing though short; ‘Convictions’ as contrast is all Supertramp tempo and guitars with a nice strut going on and more than a touch of Jean Beauvoir, it’s another cracker.
But it’s all pure gold: ‘Old Days’ adds a tale of lost love from days gone by and man that sax just elevates it to another level! ‘Don’t You Cry’ has a lovely refrain; and just when you think things can’t get any better ‘Worlds Apart’ takes the mood right down beautifully with an atmospheric tour de force. It’s wonderful stuff.
The closing track ‘Smile’ just about sums up how you’ll feel after digesting this record and though it’s a simple stripped back ballad with almost the feel of a lullaby at times it makes you wonder if this gentle simplicity is how all of the wonderful songs collected here began… before it finally takes flight .
Simply lovely.
8.5/10
