Welcome to this week's Tracks Of The Week. Six brand-new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Congratulations to prog supergroup O.R.k. who spent all week battling it out with Cosmograf and came out winners in the end with their new single 16000 Days. German prog/jazz metallers Panzerballett trailed in in third place.
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier, could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner, and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
ASH TWIN PROJECT - CŒLACANTHE
Ash Twin Project are a French quintet who mix prog rock and post-rock, with a dash of crunching metal added to the equation, to great effect. And given the closeness between modern prog and post-rock anyway, it was only a matter of time before a band cropped up directly linking the two sub-genres.
The lengthy Cœlacanthe (try saying that after a few ales!) is taken from the young band's upcoming debut album, Tales Of A Dying Sun, which will be released through Klonosphere on April 4. Some of the band's PR talks of them being for fans of Pure Reason Revolution, Anathema and Earthside, which gives you a good indication of their sound. You'll be seeing more of Ash Twin Project in Prog soon.
BJØRN RIIS - SHE
As we all know, Bjørn Riis isn't just guitarist for Norwegian prog rockers Airbag, but also a solo artist in his own right and he releases the follow-up to his highly acclaimed Everything To Everyone with new album, Fimbulvinter, through Karisma Records on April 11. The album title refers to Norse mythology and the tale of the long winter that leads up to Ragnarok - the end of the world and a new beginning. The paintive She is the secind single taken frommthe upcoming album.
"She is possibly my favourite track from the new album," Riis states. "It’s a very personal song about dealing with anxiety and having the love and support from someone dear and close. It’s an unusual arrangement, where I go deep into 60s singer/songwriters and more modern electronica. It’s light and dark both musically and lyrically.”
WHIMSICAL CREATURE - A JOURNEY OF FIVE LIFETIMES
Whimsical Creature, the folk porg suo cpomoirsed of I Am The Manic Whale bassist and vocalist Michael Whiteman and Ella Lloyd, who has provided flute on every Manic Whale release thus far. The pair, who featured in the magazine's Limelight section recently, are back with a second single, the melodic and engaging A Journey Of Five Lifetimes as a follow on from debut release The Stargazer. A debut album is being worked on!
“We were inspired by reading an article in National Geographic,” says Whiteman. “The story of the annual migration of the monarch butterfly right across the USA and back is an amazing one!”
“These beautiful creatures have such short lifespans that it takes them several generations to fly from Mexico across the entire USA and finally settling at the start of the summer as far north as Canada," adds Lloyd. "Later in the year they fly south again and miraculously return to the exact same place their great, great, great grandparents began six months earlier, despite never having been there before!"
NAD SYLVAN - THAT'S NOT ME
Steve Hackett singer and solo artist in his own right, Nad Sylan gets all funky and heavy with his brand new single, That's Not Me, which is out today. It heralds the announcement of his latest solo album, Monumentata, which will be released through InsideOut Music on June 20, and which sees Sylvan spreading his musical wings, adding R'n'B, jazzy pop and full-blown rock to his proggy sound.
"It’s a very heavy, aggressive song with a strong funk influence—kind of like James Brown meets Deep Purple," Sylvan says of the new single. "It’s got a groovy feel, and I absolutely love it because it represents the heavier side of my music. The song explores the challenges of adapting to another culture while traveling the world.”
MCSTINE & MINNEMANN - GREEN
Engaging prog duo Randy McStine and Marco Minnemann release their third collaborative album, III, on April 4. New single Green sees the pair taking a mellower path than previous single Survive, a dreamy romp that evokes strong memories of the Fab Four, inspired, as it is, by The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul.
"I thought about that time as a turning point for them [The Beatles] where they were, and where they were heading," explains vocalist and guitarist Randy McStine. "Taking them [The Beatles] out of the equation, the themes can be applied universally. It started as a solo acoustic guitar and vocal piece first, but I wanted to build it into a giant arrangement by the end.”
GLASS HAMMER - TERMINAL LUCIDITY
Glass Hammer, who these days seem to be Steve Babb and guests, release their new concept album, Rogue, on April 11. The new album explores themes of regret, heartache, and the mortal salience that comes with age, and as new single, the ten-minute plus Terminal Lucidity shows, the band have returned to a more proggy sound after turning up the volume on 2023's bombastic ARISE.
"This song would have been a great candidate for subtitles," Babb declatres. "It evolves through several movements and styles, from ambient to a sort of '90s influenced electronica/psychedelic sound, ending with a full-blown prog-rock finale."
