Latest Prog News from across the progressive music spectrum & updated throughout June 2022
23/06/2022: Ryo Okumoto releases The Watchmaker video
Taken from his upcoming solo album The Myth Of The Mostrophus (Time On His Side), scheduled for release on 29 July 2022 via InsideOut Music, is the new video for his latest single The Watchmaker…
“Immerse yourself in the tale of “The Watchmaker”, wherein our eponymous character sets off on an odyssey through past, present and future. Time is literally on his side, as the watch on his workbench allows him the opportunity to try his hand at setting things right again.”
The track features: Ryo Okumoto (keyboards), Lyle Workman (guitars), Dave Meros (bass), Jonathan Mover (drums), Michael Whiteman (vocals) and Kevin Krohn & Keiko Okumoto (backing vocals)
SOURCE: Ryo Okumoto
23/06/2022: Mike + The Mechanics announce the Refueled! 2023 UK Tour
Mike + The Mechanics announce their Refueled! 34 date UK 2023 Tour today, “playing all the hits and a drop of Genesis”. The tour begins on 12th April in York and runs until 28th May 2023 in Portsmouth. The tour includes London’s Royal Albert Hall in mid-May, and tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday June 24th) at 10:00am.
The ‘Refueled!’ Tour in 2023, will include tracks from their critically acclaimed, most recent top-10 selling album ‘Out of the Blue’, all the hits, plus some Genesis. ‘Out of the Blue’, their ninth album, features re-workings of some of the band’s best loved tracks, including ‘The Living Years’ and the unforgettable ‘Over My Shoulder’. Who’s coming to see us, and which venue will you be going to?
SOURCE: Mike + The Mechanics
Keep up to date with the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
22/06/2022: Ed Wynne marks this years solstice with a new song Seen The Sun
Thirty nine years since the iconic Ozric Tentacles were formed during the solstice at Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983, the mind behind the Ozrics, Ed Wynne, has marked this years solstice with a new song ‘Seen The Sun’ alongside a brand new visualizer from Matthew Vickerstaff. The track is taken from Wynne’s new album ‘Tumbling Through The Floativerse’ – due for release on 15th July via Kscope, ‘Floativerse’ is his latest collaboration with Gre Vanderloo of Gracerooms.
Ed Wynne and Gre Vanderloo began working together on Tumbling Through The Floativerse in early 2020 at Wynne’s Blue Bubble Studio in Fife, Scotland. The album also features guest appearances from Ozric Tentacles’ synth player Silas Neptune and Gracerooms bassist Paul Klaessen, with Ed Wynne himself on engineering duties and mastering from Adam Goodlet, along with typically psychedelic album artwork by Valerie Fangman.
Ed Wynne on ‘Tumbling Through The Floativerse’: “I’ve always enjoyed the synth orientated musical worlds he creates with his project ‘Gracerooms. Shortly before lockdown 2020, whilst making the early stages of the recent Ozrics album Space for the Earth, we decided to try and make some tunes together. Gre came over from Holland where he lives, to the Blue Bubble Studio here in Fife and we started recording pretty much straight away. We ended up with about six definite starting points, which then developed and unfolded into a harmonic realm we referred to as ‘The Floativerse’… A place where you might escape gravity for a moment”
SOURCE: Hanglands
Ed Wynne and Ozric Tentacles will be joining GONG for their first ever co-headline tour later this year. Dates can be found in the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
18/06/2022: Esthesis release first single from upcoming album Watching Worlds Collide
French progresive rock band Esthesis release the first single Place Your Bets, taken from the upcoming album, Watching Worlds Collide, scheduled for 19 August 2022…
Esthesis is a progressive & alternative rock project formed and led by French multi-instrumentalist Aurélien Goude (music, lyrics, keyboards, vocals, guitars, bass and other stuff). The current line up is composed of three other musicians : Baptiste Desmares (lead guitar), Marc Anguill (bass) and Arnaud Nicolau (drums).
The new Esthesis album will be produced and distributed by the independent label and music production company Misty Tones, founded by Aurélien Goude.
SOURCE: Esthesis
17/06/2022: Porcupine Tree release last preview of the band’s forthcoming album
Friday 24 June 2022 sees the release of the much anticipated Porcupine Tree album Closure/Continuation, their first since The Incident (2009). Today sees the airing of Rats Return, last preview from the band’s forthcoming eleventh album…
“This song is about those who claim to have the interests of the people at heart, but when it comes down to it there is only ego and self-interest,”explains Steven Wilson. “I find myself reflecting on what sort of person would actually be so driven as to want to rule over a whole nation, and aren’t these people by definition the very last people that should be allowed to do so? That rats will always save themselves first.”
Over a decade in the making, CLOSURE / CONTINUATION is due for release on Music For Nations/Sony on 24th June 2022. It will be available as a seven track album on standard CD/double vinyl/coloured vinyl or limited cassette. The deluxe LP version comes on audiophile approved crystal clear vinyl as a 3xLP 45rpm boxset with two bonus tracks; the deluxe CD & Blu-Ray boxset comes with three bonus tracks, instrumental versions, and high resolution 96/24 stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos versions of the album, all housed in an exclusive art book.
SOURCE: Porcupine Tree
17/06/2022: Major Parkinson announce new album release and second UK date
Following from their show at this year’s Summer’s End Festival, Norwegian septet Major Parkinson will headline at London’s Boston Music Room on 15 October 2022. The London date will be the as-yet-untitled new album’s release show.
The band comment: “Finally, with great pleasure, we can announce that Major Parkinson are heading back to London”
Claudia Cox, Major Parkinson’s violinist and vocalist will open the show under her stage name of Peri Winkle.
SOURCE: Major Parkinson
Keep up to date with the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
15/06/2022: Vanden Plas to release Live & Immortal in August
Vanden Plas will release a live album and long-form video on 5th August 2022 via Frontiers Music Srl. Live & Immortal is a special addition to the storied discography of the band as, aside from the The Seraphic Live Works (which documented their 70 minute performance at Progpower USA in 2011), it is the band’s first complete show to be released on long-form video.
Recorded on 30th December 2016 in their hometown of Kaiserslautern, the quintet delivered a powerful, energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. The bulk of the setlist was based on their two Chronicles Of The Immortals albums from 2013 and 2014, plus additional songs that they had never previously played live, such as the atmospheric Scarlet Flower Fields and the captivating eleven minute long The Final Murder. The show also included fan favourites Holes In The Sky, Iodic Rain, Postcard To God and Christ 0.
Live & Immortal will be released on 5th August 2022 via Frontiers Music Srl and available in several formats: 2CD+DVD | Blu-ray | Ltd Gold 2xLP | Digital
SOURCE: Red Sand PR
14/06/2022: Tim Bowness releases Only A Fool single
Tim Bowness releases the latest single Only A Fool, taken from his slightly delayed studio album Butterfly Mind, which will now be released via InsideOut Music/Sony on 5 August 2022
Tim comments: “Lyrically and musically, it’s a sometimes fractious and sometimes playful exploration of contradictions.”
Only A Fool features Magazine’s Dave Formula on synth and piano and a rhythm section comprising Richard Jupp (ex-Elbow) and Nick Beggs. The album also features Peter Hammill (VdGG), Gregory Spawton (Big Big Train), Stephen W Tayler (Kate Bush) and violinist Ben Coleman.
SOURCE: Tim Bowness
14/06/2022: Dim Gray release lyric video for new single Avalon | The Tide
Norwegian trio Dim Gray have released the second single, Avalon | The Tide, taken from their forthcoming album Firmament scheduled for 2nd September 2022 via English Electric Recordings.
The group themselves state that writing it was “where the album really started, as it became a blueprint for the entire record. The expansiveness in its lydian harmonies and modulations, the prevalence of piano and strings, as well as the lyrical themes, all came to influence the rest of the songs.”
As with several other tracks on ‘Firmament’, the music was written by guitarist Håkon Høiberg on piano rather than his main instrument, with singer/keyboardist Oskar Holldorff then adding words. Holldorff explains that “the music felt like it was constructed as a story, so I thought the lyric should depict some sort of journey. Avalon, the mythical island from Arthurian legend, felt like an appropriate metaphor for reaching an impossible goal or destination; like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or, as these particular words mean to me, peace of mind. They are about trauma, wanting to forget, and the futility of fighting against the overwhelming forces and inherent dynamics of the world, hence the reference to King Canute and the tide in the second verse. I couldn’t decide whether the song should be called Avalon or The Tide, but when we later wrote ‘Meridian’, which ends the album and suggests a split globe, the joint title was suddenly justified.”
Firmament will be available on CD, LP (via Plane Groovy) and all digital services, with the physical formats available to pre-order now via Burning Shed.
SOURCE: Red Sand PR
14/06/2022: Rick Wakeman announces Grumpy Christmas Stocking Tour
This year, Rick’s Grumpy Christmas Stocking Tour will be taking him to some cities of the UK that he hasn’t visited for several years, kicking off in Croydon on 24 November before visiting Dartford, Newcastle, Liverpool, Poole, Bath, Barnstaple, Swansea, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Cambridge, Stoke-on-Trent, York, Blackburn, Buxton and Ipswich before concluding in Worthing on 21 December.
“I love Christmas,” says Rick. “It’s just as well, as this will be my 74th Christmas. I will admit that I don’t remember 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952 very well, but after that, little bits of memory start to trickle back. I’m hoping this will be my best Christmas ever, but if not – well, there’s always next year!”
SOURCE: Rick Wakeman
Keep up to date with the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
13/06/2022: New Bubblemath album scheduled for release this month
Bubblemath’s latest studio album Turf Ascension will be released on the Cuneiform Record label on 24h June 2022. By way of a teaser you can listen to Everything here…
Bubblemath’s new album, Turf Ascension, is the finest progressive-rock album you’re ever going to read. This is not to short-change the music on this four-song, 49-minute collection of shifting time signatures, swirling vocal harmonies, interstellar guitars, and rippling keyboard flourishes.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bubblemath’s Blake Albinson, Jay Burritt, Kai Esbensen, James Flagg, and Jonathan G. Smith have taken full advantage of their hometown’s long winter nights to hone a singular style that’s at once thrilling, enthralling, and technically demanding. Not just winter nights, in fact, but entire years. Although the members of Bubblemath joined forces well over two decades ago, Turf Ascension is only their third full-length, with a 15-year gap falling between their 2002 debut, Such Fine Particles of the Universe, and 2017’s Edit Peptide, their first for the Cuneiform Records imprint.
SOURCE: Cuneiform Records
12/06/2022: Evership release Overture video from forthcoming The Uncrowned King – Act 2 album
Nashville-based Evership have released the Overture video, offering a taste of what is to come in their 4th album, The Uncrowned King – Act 2…
Evership released their well received third album The Uncrowned King – Act 1 on 21 May 2021. TPA’s David Edwards comments: “This is a powerful slab of retro-progressive symphonic rock – in that ‘American prog’ style – that will delight fans of that genre.”.
The first single from the album, Coronation, is scheduled for release on 21 June 2022, ahead of the pre-ordering which begins the following day – 22nd June 2022.
SOURCE: Evership
11/06/2022: Solent Area Prog – Red Cross Ukraine Appeal Concert
Solent Area Prog will be hosting an extravaganza in support of the Red Cross Ukraine appeal at Southampton’s The 1865 on 26th June 2022. The day will feature 8 acts, Tim Bowness with Brian Hulse, Galahad’s Stu Nicholson & Dean Baker, Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate and more – performing unique sets in support of the Red Cross Ukraine appeal.
The full line-up for the event is: Tim Bowness with Brian Hulse | Viriditas (acoustic) | Almost Eden (Simon Rogers & Huw Lloyd Jones of Also Eden) | Galahad (Stu Nicholson & Dean Baker) | Carola (Of Ruby Dawn) | Davey Dodds | Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate | Marquee Square Heroes (Fish era Tribute)
In addition to the music there will be raffles and auctions for goodies and exclusive videos on a big screen. For more Info< visit the Solent Area Prog Fundraiser
SOURCE: Solent Area Prog
Keep up to date with with the TPA Gig Guide & the TPA Festival Page – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listings.
09/06/2022: Last Of Eden to release People Like People Like Them single later this month
Halifax-based Post-Rock outfit Last Of Eden (L.O.E.) release their debut single, People Like People Like Them, via Hopeful Tragedy Records on 24 June 2022.
People Like People Like Them aims to capture the desperation, futility and shift in hope and power felt by anyone driven to despair at the state of the world. It aims to provide a reminder that by standing together we can overcome. We don’t have to take this anymore.
The words that resonate over the music are still as pertinent and relevant today as they ever were. They shine a light on how society exploits disaster, pain and conflict to turn a profit. It shows how far we still have to come as a society and how unjust the world still is.
The world is a scary place but we have a voice – we can stand up and we can be heard. No longer do we have to settle for the mundane. We shall not be overlooked and we will fight for our voices to be heard. The song title is inspired by a belief that we are unified and connected by shared greatness and that together we are strong.
Ahead of their new single release on June 24, the Post-Rock quartet is set for a headlining single launch show with FORT as support act, on June 11 at Archway in Halifax, and they will be supporting Alex Henry Foster & The Long Shadows in Manchester, on June 25 at Deaf Institute.
SOURCE: Hopeful Tragedy Records
08/06/2022: Arena announce The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance for September release
Arena announce the release of their 10th studio album, The Theory of Molecular Inheritance, scheduled for 2nd September 2022.
Commenting the band say: “The album is recorded and mastered and is now with the manufacturer. Our website, arenaband.co.uk has been updated with all the details and we’re now taking pre-orders for a delivery to you on 2nd September.”
The band have revealed the artwork for The Theory of Molecular Inheritance. The album will be available in various formats including Turquoise Vinyl | Deluxe Edition Ear Book | CD.
The band will be on tour during September and October 2022, kicking off six UK dates before heading across Europe. All dates can be found on the Arena website.
SOURCE: Arena
Keep up to date with the UK dates (and more) with the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
06/06/2022: Jakub Tirco releases instrumental track Hiraeth
Taken from the upcoming album Alaska, from Slovakian composer and guitarist Jakub Tirco, is the instrumental Hiraeth…
Jakub comments: “Hiraeth is a very important song on this album for me. It’s not too complicated instrumentally, but I wanted it to feel like it walks you through a story – in which you discover something new every time you play it. Being able to achieve that on top of somewhat less typical rhythm patterns, yet not too apparent or distracting, is something I always strive to do.”
Jakub Tirco is a Slovak musician and songwriter currently living in Prague, Czech Republic. With instrumental guitar-centric music being his main domain, he released a post-rock inspired EP “Noises & Colours” (2020) with drummer Adam Janzi from VOLA in the track “Polarized”. He was featured on Beat Saber’s OST4 in the track “Into The Dream (feat. Jakub Tirco)” in 2021. In March 2022, he announced his next album Alaska with a new single “The End of All Things (feat. Baard Kolstad)”.
There’s no official release date for Alaska, however it is expected to be in July 2022.
SOURCE: Jacob Tirco
05/06/2022: Motorpsycho announce new studio album Ancient Astronauts
Stickman Records announce that there is a new Motorpsycho album on the horizon. Ancient Astronauts, the follow up to last year’s well received Kingdom of Oblivion, is scheduled to be released on Friday, 19th August 2022.
“Recorded in the summer of 2021, it’s the newest recorded chapter in Motorpsycho’s more than 30-year history.”
Motorpsycho will follow up the release of Ancient Astronauts with some festival gigs in various European countries.
Presales will start on 15 July 2022.
SOURCE: Stickman Records
04/06/2022: London Prog Gigs announce line-up for ‘A Sunday In September’ all dayer
Dates: 18th September 2022
Venue: 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, London, SW12 9HD
Info: London Prog Gigs
Lesoir | The Gift | Downriver Dead Men Go | EBB | Maud The Moth
SOURCE: London Prog Gigs
Keep up to date with with the TPA Gig Guide & the TPA Festival Page – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listings.
01/06/2022: Derek Sherinian releases Scorpion from forthcoming studio album Vortex
Today sees the release of the second single, Scorpion, taken from Derek Sherinian’s forthcoming studio album. Vortex will be released through InsideOut Music on 1st July 2022, and today and ahead of the album sees of the second single Scorpion
Derek comments on Scorpion: “After the great response to “Dragonfly” on my last album, Simon and I wanted to do another piano trio song. Don’t be surprised if you see me going more in this direction in the future.”
The track features Derek Sherinian on piano, Simon Phillips on kit and Ric Fierabracci on bass.
Also joining Derek on the Vortex album will be long time collaborator Tony Franklin, along with a impressive list of guitar players including Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, Steve Stevens, Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde, Mike Stern, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Michael Schenker.
More information about the Vortex release (and the previous single video) can be found in April’s TPA NEWS
SOURCE: Derek Sherinian
01/06/2022: Nick Fletcher to release new solo album in June
Following on from 2020’s Cycles of Behaviour, John Hackett Band guitarist Nick Fletcher returns with The Cloud of Unknowing.
“Burning with fury and aching with tenderness, Nick is joined by outstanding artists Dave Bainbridge, Stuart Barbour, Caroline Bonnett, Russ Wilson and Tim Harries.”
The Cloud of Unknowing concept explores ‘meaning in a seemingly meaningless world’, using ideas from Greek mythology and mysticism the music takes the listener on a voyage of our inner selves to take us from darkness to light. The centrepiece is an epic 23-minute suite entitled Scenes from the Subconcious Mind. The suite is a journey through dreams and nightmares to a place of peace in the form of the acoustic composition Arcadia.
Described by Steve Hackett as ‘probably the best jazz rock guitarist in the country’, Nick Fletcher once again proves himself the natural heir to the Allan Holdsworth mantle. His ‘effortless’ fluency and harmonic dexterity delight, challenge and excite.
The Cloud of Unknowing is released on Monday 6th June 2022 and available through Nick’s website
SOURCE: John Hackett Band
01/06/2022: Jon Gomm announces new UK dates for 2022
Jon comments: “Live music coming back has felt like a miracle. I feel like an actual physical person. I think we’re made real by connecting with others. So I’m taking to the road again in my homeland. Live music coming back has felt like a miracle. I feel like an actual physical person. I think we’re made real by connecting with others. So I’m taking to the road again in my homeland. Please come, I’ll make a nice noise and move my hands on my guitar in confusing ways and try to make you laugh and cry.”
SOURCE: Jon Gomm
Keep up to date with these dates and more with the TPA Gig Guide – the UK’s most comprehensive prog gig listing.
01/06/2022: Muse release Will Of The People animated video
Muse have premiered an animated video for the title track from their forthcoming Will Of The People studio album, scheduled for 26th August 2022 via Warner Records…
Matt Bellamy comments: “‘Will of the People’ is fictional story set in a fictional metaverse on a fictional planet ruled by a fictional authoritarian state run by a fictional algorithm manifested by a fictional data centre running a fictional bank printing a fictional currency controlling a fictional population occupying a fictional city containing a fictional apartment where a fictional man woke up one day and thought ‘fuck this.’”
Will Of The People will be released 26th August 2022 via Warner Records…
SOURCE: MUSE
01/06/2022: Renaissance featuring Annie Haslam announce The Legacy Fall Tour 2022
“A celebration of Annie Haslam’s 75th year. Classic Renaissance with the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra and music from Annie’s solo career”
The tour starts in Rio De Janeiro on 5 June 2022, continuing in July with an appearance at this year’s Night of The Prog Festival in Germany, before returning to the States for a series of seven dates during October. Renaissance will also be performing at On the Blue Cruise 2023.
The band and orchestra will be playing a unique line up of selections that will include Annie Haslam’s favorite Renaissance classics alongside favorites from her many solo recordings. Much of the music from these shows will be performed for the first time with orchestral arrangements. The group plans to release a double CD in 2023 from recordings captured during the tour.
For a complete list of shows visit the tour page HERE
SOURCE: Glass Onyon PR
01/06/2022: Amplifier to release new studio album this year
Manchester based Amplifier have revealed their latest studio album, originally slated for May will now be released later in the year, although no official release date has been announced as yet. Gargantuan follows up 2017’s well received Trippin’ With Dr. Faustus. As a taster they have released a short guitar run through from Levels…
SOURCE: Amplifier
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