New music from Neil Campbell is always welcomed, and January’s announcement of Diagonals was no exception. This latest release however arrives with an added twist: two separate versions of the album. One is a digital only mini‑album showcasing Neil’s latest work under the Diagonals banner. The other, reviewed here, is Diagonals: An Anthology (2020–2026), an expanded edition that gathers 21 remastered pieces from the first half of the decade.
The Diagonals album itself features ten new compositions dedicated to visual artist Ken Horton, whose paintings not only grace this latest album but also appeared on last year’s The Turnaround. Neil describes the concept behind Diagonals as ‘loosely based on the idea of the relationship between visual and musical forms’, particularly the way ‘configurations of fingers on the guitar’s fretboard’ echo visual patterns. Ken Horton’s blend of straight lines and circular motifs captures this beautifully, while Neil points to the two brief, beguiling title tracks as musical reflections of the idea.
Across Diagonals, Neil’s wide‑ranging musical palette is on full display. The bright, breezy opener layers catchy keyboard figures and strings with subtle percussive touches. The first of the title tracks follows, leading into Lament, whose gentle guitar and harmonised theme touch into Mike Oldfield territory. Equally melodic is Circles, built around Neil’s masterful interlocking guitar lines.
Melody remains central to Neil’s work and there’s always a sense of joyful anticipation as each piece unfolds. Romanaza is a perfect example, as are the Erik Satie tinged Upstream (Reprise), the Vangelis flavoured Polarities, and the all‑too‑brief Diagonals Nr. 2, which brings the new material to a close, allowing the album to slip seamlessly into the remastered ‘bonus’ tracks.
In keeping with the anthology’s spirit, I’ve chosen to ‘remaster’ the mini‑reviews I originally wrote for each release. ‘Remaster’ might be overstating it slightly – ‘re‑mix and tweak’ is probably closer to the truth 😉 …
Inspired by the poetry of Seán Street, Journey Into Space marked Neil Campbell’s first release of 2023. The tracks would later form part of a live collaboration between Neil and Seán presenting “a sequence of poetry readings with live and recorded instrumental music” at the Liverpool Writing on the Wall Festival.
Even without that future context, Journey Into Space stood firmly as a complete and absorbing album. Its twelve pieces were hypnotic, delicate, and quietly transportative, inviting the listener into their own personal sense of ‘space’. The opening transit set the tone with its gentle momentum, while the atmospheric textures of amino deepened the journey. The four mobile vignettes, especially mobile 1 (fragment) and mobile 4 (fragment), carried a clear lineage from the expansive Faldum album, echoing its thematic and emotional terrain.
Given the album’s title I anticipated something more cosmic, something ‘Hubble-esque’ or JWS, however the album cover recalled the mountainous motifs of Faldum. The track titles reinforced this shift as there were no celestial references. The journey into space therefore was not interstellar but inward, a voyage through space as it relates to time, where entropy and erosion are intertwined in spacetime.
![Neil Campbell – The Forest Dwellers [EP]](https://theprogressiveaspect.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Campbell_ADA38.jpg "Neil Campbell – The Forest Dwellers [EP]")
Early spring 2020 arrived with a sense of trepidation and profound uncertainty, as people everywhere were forced to confront the far‑reaching weight of the word ‘pandemic’.
Amid this uncertainty came The Forest Dwellers, released on 1st April 2020, a four‑track acoustic EP whose brightness cut through the gloom. Each tune carried a sense of lightness and hope, offering listeners a momentary refuge from the heaviness of the time. Neil’s decision to release the EP as a free or “name your price” download only deepened its spirit of generosity.
The Forest Dwellers captured a vivid snapshot of Neil’s fluid, expressive guitar work. First Light opened the journey with gentle radiance; Morning Dance followed with a lively flourish reminiscent of Gordon Giltrap; If introduced a more contemplative pause; and the evocative Acorns brought the collection to a graceful close.
![Neil Campbell & Nicole Collarbone – Berlin Suite & Other Short Stories [EP]](https://theprogressiveaspect.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Campbell-Collarbone_ADA.jpg "Neil Campbell & Nicole Collarbone – Berlin Suite & Other Short Stories [EP]")
Another project disrupted by the pandemic, its original recording sessions abruptly halted as we all retreated into isolation. When the EP finally emerged in autumn 2022, I noted that the opening track was so captivating I had to replay it before moving on. At the time, I wrote:
“The title track, Berlin Suite, is a delightfully organic piece and features Neil’s distinctive and unique classical guitar, sublimely interwoven by Nicole Collarbone’s imaginative cello. Although there’s no mention of ‘movements’ in the title itself, Berlin Suite is a wonderfully evolving composition made up from contrasting and dynamic sections. Neil’s intuitive guitar and Nicole’s cello weave effortlessly together throughout the ‘suite’ creating a musical dialogue that can be sweet, melancholic and dramatic, as and when the music requires it. Simply stunning!”
With such a commanding opener, there was a momentary worry that the remaining ‘short stories’ might struggle to match its standard. Ode to a Penguin immediately dispelled that fear – winsome, beautifully shaped, and a piece that resonated instantly.
The second duet, the darkly lilting Hoobie Tango, introduced subtle percussive textures from Jon Lawton deepening its atmosphere. Rounding out the collection were two guitar duets: In the Moment and the serene, captivating Yachts, 1959, both offering a gentle close to this finely crafted set.
Bringing together the original Journey Into Space, The Forest Dwellers, and Berlin Suite & Other Short Stories under one roof feels appropriate, and given the less‑than‑ideal circumstances in which those albums were first recorded, it’s easy to share Neil’s belief and satisfaction at seeing them finally housed together. The remastering gives the earlier material a more unified presence, though it’s worth noting that Messrs Campbell and Lawton’s production values have always been impressively high. In that sense, the new ‘polish’ feels like the proverbial icing on the cake.
Diagonals earns a wholehearted recommendation, and for anyone choosing between formats, the anthology CD edition stands out as the most rewarding way to experience this body of work.
TRACK LISTING
01. Upstream (2:21)
02. Diagonals (1:03)
03. Lament (1:33)
04. Circles (2:40)
05. No Answer (1:09)
06. Romanza (1:32)
07. Ascent (2:41)
08. Upstream (Reprise) (3:00)
09. Polarities (2:31)
10. Diagonals Nr.2 (0:52)
11. transit (2:09)
12. mobile fragment 1 (3:26)
13. amino (2:24)
14. limbo (1:48)
15. laces (2:12)
16. phases (2:51)
17. mobile fragment 2 (1:59)
18. denude (3:11)
19. leige (1:19)
20. mobile fragment 3 (2:00)
21. aged (2:05)
22. mobile fragment 4 (3:32)
23. First Light (1:24)
24. Morning Dance (2:37)
25. If (1:45)
26. Acorns (1:57)
27. Berlin Suite (10:07)
28. Ode to a Penguin (2:55)
29. In the Moment (2:25)
30. Hoobie Tango (3:26)
31. Yachts, 1959 (2:36)
Total Time – 77:30
MUSICIANS
Neil Campbell – Classical & Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Electronics
Nicole Collarbone – Cello (27,28 & 30)
Jon Lawton – Percussion, Programming (27,28 & 30)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 6th March 2026
LINKS
Neil Campbell – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | X | Instagram
