Welcome to Prog's Tracks Of The Week. Six new and diverse slices progressive music for you to enjoy.
Last week Suns Of The Tundra and Southern Empire were neck and neck throughout most of the voting process, but in the end, Southern Empire just pipped the post with Reaching Out. Suns Of The Tundra's The Rot settled in second place, with Voivod's Condemned To The Gallows coming a very respectable third.
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.
So get watching. And get voting at the bottom of the page.
NEAL MORSE - LIKE A WALL
Taken from Neal Morse's forthcoming concept album, The Dreamer: Joseph, Part One, Like A Wall's gritty opening complete with throbbing bass and punchy keys show off a very different side to the NMB leader. But as the Biblical rock opera unfolds, Morse's trademark uplifting melodies tell the story of the Israelite Joseph from the book of Genesis.
Says Morse, “As with many creative endeavours, there are times along the way where you start to wonder where you’re at and if it will come together in the end. I am so happy to report that this one really has come together and exceeded my expectations. The guest vocalists are fantastic and the string arrangements are extraordinary! Jerry Guidroz did an exceptional job on the mix, and I am so excited to share this album with all of you! Now on to part two…”
HAKEN - THE LAST LULLABYE
Die-hard Haken fans might have spotted the elegant The Last Lullaby as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of current release, Fauna – it's now streaming worldwide so everyone can enjoy it. With echoes of Talk Talk and Steve Reich, the ambient track includes subtle vocals from Ross Jennings set against a near-instrumental backdrop.
Say the band, "The Last Lullaby naturally follows on from Eyes Of Ebony, being based on the main theme from the closing track on Fauna. Our keyboardist Pete [Jones] was let loose with his production skills, chopping up stems, rearranging, and adding new layers, to create a track with bit of a different feel to the rest of the album, being closer to electronica than metal – but one we feel captures the emotive quality of the record and provides a fitting epilogue."
EDWARD REEKERS - GOOD CITIZENS
Former Threshold vocalist Damian Wilson joins ex-Kayak singer Edward Reekers on this big and bold track from the upcoming The Liberty Project, Reekers' first solo album in 15 years. The pair have previously collaborated with Ayreon, and Good Citizens makes the most of the powerful concept that lies behind the record. It also includes former Kayak bandmate Cindy Oudshoorn with Hammond from Joost van den Broek.
"When I recorded the demos for this album, I sang all the lead vocals myself," reveals Reekers. "I found Good Citizens one of the hardest [tracks] to ‘give away’, so to speak, because I loved singing it. Fortunately, my good friend Damian Wilson was willing to lend his great voice and overwhelming interpretation to the politicians both in this song and ‘Never again’. And I must say, I’m more than happy with and proud of the result!”
FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS - MILD DAVIS
LA-based Frankie & The Witch Fingers are surprisingly big fans of 70s German prog, which translates beautifully onto Mild Davis, the single from their upcoming seventh album Data Doom, due out in September. Darker and harder hitting than their 2020 predecessor Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters, Data Doom promises to throw the listener "head first into the wood-chipper of technological dystopia, systemic rot, creeping fascism."
Expect motorik rhythms, swirling guitars and a cosmic 70s groove from a highly experimental band that have shared bills with an eclectic blend of artists including Kikagaku Moyo, Cheap Trick, and ZZ Top.
THE KOBRAS - RABBIT HOLE
But if psychedelic sounds are your thing, London-based trio The Kobras might be just what you're looking for. Rabbit Hole is quite the trip and is accompanied by a vivid video animated by lead singer Dessy. Purson and Goldray fans will find lots to like here.
Says Dessy of the song, “Harry and I were a little bit bored and decided to take a tiny bit of mushrooms, which in the end turned out to be a whole crazy trip. Harry [Thacker] was fiddling with the guitar and suddenly under his fingers the main riff of the song appeared. I asked him to keep playing it and tried to explain to him what the feeling of the trip was like, so the first thing that came out of my mouth was: 'Down, down the rabbit hole, what you came for you don’t know'. Pure magic!"
NMB - ANOTHER STORY TO TELL (LIVE)
And finally, his latest solo song opens our Tracks Of The Week selection and Neal Morse Band's live rendition of Another Story To Tell closes it. Taken from An Evening of Innocence & Danger: Live in Hamburg, it captures the punchy NMB song from 2021's Innocence & Danger live on the group's first post-pandemic tour.
"[That tour] was an amazing experience all the way around and the Hamburg gig was a real stand-out!”, says Morse of the Markthalle show. “The band were firing on all cylinders and the audience was so close to us and roaring from the very first note.”
