Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Eight brand new and diverse slices of progressive music for you to enjoy.
But first, a hearty well done to US prog trio Shumaun, whose mix of classic prog and melodic rock on Some Memories romped home last week, followed by Norwegian prog rockers Rendezvous Point and with fellow US proggers Circuline 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 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.
IZZ - THERE'S HOPE
US prog rockers IZZ, fronted by US vocalist Laura Meade, return with their first new music for four years when they release their brand new album Collapse The Wave on June 11. It's preceded by quirky new single There's Hope, which boasts a thought-provoking new animated video, which ties in with the album's themes: a deep exploration of existential themes, such as the "death of the ego," the relinquishing of "self," and the idea of parallel realities.
IZZ co-founder and bassist John Galgano described Collapse The Wave as "a sonic exploration of the self and the universe. We tried to weave together each of our musical influences with philosophical, spiritual, and scientific ideas to create an album that explores both personal and universal themes."
THE DECEMBERISTS - OH NO!
US quintet The Decemberists have long appealed to prog fans with albums such as 2006's The Crane Wife and 2009's stunning The Hazards Of Love mixing baroque pop, Americana and folk with undeniable proggier traits. New album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again was heralded with the none-more-prog 19-minute long Joan In The Garden, but for their new song Oh No! the band remind us of just how damn catchy they can be. It's real irresistible earworm! This live performance was recorded at the Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon.
"Oh No! is the sort of song that just tumbles out of you," explains lead singer Colin Meloy. "It all started with the first line — “It was on a wedding night / How they danced by the firelight” — and flowed from there. In my mind, the narrator of the song is channelling the two brothers from Emir Kusturica’s immortal film, Underground. This song is about causing havoc, causing chaos, its narrator forever followed by an even greater form of chaos, a great darkness. But it’s a darkness you can dance to!"
MONO - RUN ON
Japanese post-rockers MONO's epic new single, the nine-minute long Run On should serve as a perfect introduction to prog fans who've not bothered to check the band's richly atmospheric music out before. The track is taken from the band's upcoming album Oath which is released through Temporary Residence Ltd., Pelagic Records and New Noise on June 14. The accompanying video features 6,000 meticulously painted frames from Dalian-based artist, Jiang Kun, combining Eastern ink and Western oil painting techniques.
"Humanity's desire for evolution will never stop, even if the desire to make society more convenient and prosperous is good. The world is becoming worse and worse because it's built on people who desperately want to make more money through business and concessions, and want to gain an upper hand. More humanly, simply put, there's nothing truly more important than respecting, helping and loving each other.
"Instead of focusing on a competitive society where people compare themselves to others, I think it's ok for everyone to stay true to themselves and live their own lives because everyone is born with a unique personality. One day, when our souls leave our bodies and go to heaven, what we will take with us is not money, cars, houses or possessions but rather, what we could give to others and pride in how we could live our lives.
"Just last week, we lost one of our dearest friends, Steve Albini, with whom we had the pleasure of making albums with for 22 years. We don't even know anything about tomorrow. We realised again how important it is to continue pursuing our dreams in our own way every day, without being distracted by those around us."
WORRIEDABOUTSATAN - MORE MEAT FOR THE GRINDER
Gavin Miller, hitherto known as UK electronica/post-rocker worriedaboutsatan, returns with a brand new ten-minute slice of kosmiche, Krautrocky electronica in the hypnotically catchy More Meat For The Grinder. It's from yet another new album from the prolific artist, this time a double affair entitled If Not Now, When, which is available today from worriedaboutsatan's Bandcamp page. And today is his birthday too, so Happy Birthday Gavin!!
"After I had some fun experimenting with krautrock stuff on my last album, I thought I might as well keep that thread going, says Miller. "So whilst I was working on something that was fairly electronic, I thought ‘yeah, go on then’ and gave it a huge krautrock second half, which I thought came out really nicely. Was channelling a bit of Neu! and maybe a bit of Can too, so this edit is literally just the second half of the track!"
RETURNED TO THE EARTH - DARK MORALITY
UK prog rockers Returned From Earth returned themselves this week with brand new sing, the epic Dark Morality, which is taken from the band's second album Stalagmite Steeple which will be released through Giant Electic Pea on June 14. It'll be the band's (multi-instrumentalist Robin Peachey) fifth full-length album, a follow-up to last year's Fall Of The Watcher, and finds Returned From Earth going down a proggier and epic route.
"I saw a story about an elderly couple who were separated during the first Covid lockdown and unfortunately the lady passed away from natural causes," explains Peachey. "I found it incredibly sad that we couldn’t find a way to bring loved ones together in their final moments during this difficult period of our history. It seemed empathy and compassion were lost but the money spent for the privilege of being in the care home facility still rolled in. I didn’t want this event to be marked by just a single song so it formed the backdrop for the whole album."
PIJN - ON THE FAR SIDE OF MORNING
There's a lot to get your teeth into with Manchester sextet Pijn, especially when it comes to new single, the epic nine-minutes plus of On The Far Side Of Morning, which comes from the band's upcoming From Low Beams Of Hope album which is released on June 21 through Floodlit Recordings. The band expand on the quiet/loud post-rock dynamic adding experimental twists and turns along the way.
"On The Far Side Of Morning encapsulates so much of what I wanted to achieve with this record, a broad emotional range from solitude and fragility to triumph and purpose, removing limitations on instrumentation and personnel in pursuit of what, for us, was an uncompromising crescendo," explains guitarist/producer Joe Clayton.
"From Low Beams Of Hope is an album with more of an abstract feel than our previous records. Where Floodlit and Loss were a very focused reaction to grief, From Low Beams Of Hope came from an attempt to get perspective on the passage of life, thematically and sonically embracing our own experiences in an attempt to create something that can feel at once uplifting and exciting, vulnerable and reflective, yet was made in fragmented and difficult surroundings."
COMA ROSSI - WAVES OF TIME
UK and Germany-based (by way of Bangalore in India) prog duo Coma Rossi return with the band's second album Void, on July 18. Now stripped back to a duo of founding member Gaurav Govilkar and drummer Diane Galen (the band's original line-up dissolved mid-2022), Waves Of Time shows the band mixing more traditional prog sounds with elements of post-rock. UK audiences can catch Coma Rossi at this year's Summer's End Festival in October
"This song is about dealing with grief," explains Govilkar. "I believe you never actually get over losing someone and the grief keeps hitting you in waves, time and time again. It is something that you eventually hope to cope with and look forward to in life, still carrying that burden."
FERNANDO PERDOMO - WHO I REALLY AM
You'll probably recognise US musician Fernando Perdomo from his ubiquitous social media posts, but he's also been hard at work crafting a brand new solo album SELF, which will be released through Spirit Of Unicorn Music on June 14. First single, Who I Really Am features an amusing video for which Perdomo gradually shaved off his beard and playing a variety of roles in the video with varying degrees of beard and moustache. That's truly suffering for your art!
"Who I Really Am is a very fun exploration into mixing genres that I truly love," explains Perdomo. "It’s a combination of yacht rock and prog rock. The song was inspired by my obsession with 60’s and early 70’s vocal group, The Free Design. This inspired the tightly packed harmonies and repetitive, mantra-like motifs. Who I Really Am is truly one of my most favourite recordings I’ve ever created."
