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Gazpacho – Fireworking At St. Croux

Back in 2020, Gazpacho inimitably added to the general strangeness of that momentous Covid year with their own particularly peculiar and unmistakably ‘Gazpacho-flavoured’ release, Fireworker, a darkly hypnotic concept album. The pandemic prevented them from presenting it in a live…

Moon Letters – Thank You From The Future

Thank You From the Future is the very enjoyable second album from the Seattle-based quintet, Moon Letters. It is a fascinating amalgam of retro prog and rock influences with symphonic, jazz, blues and psychedelic echoes, but all mixed together in…

Cola de Zorro – El Desierto Avanza

Before I begin this review, I probably need to apologise to Cola de Zorro, as I suspect I have inferred meaning from this instrumental album that was not intended. The album translates as ‘The Desert Advances’, and I can only…

Fearful Symmetry – The Difficult Second

Crossing a varied spectrum of influences and genres, and featuring nine well conceived tracks, Fearful Symmetry’s debut, Louder Than Words released in 2019, was a late but welcome discovery last year. In the review I commented about looking out for…

Cosmograf – Heroic Materials

Robin Armstrong’s imminent new Cosmograf album, Heroic Materials, focuses on environmental concerns, which seems particularly timely in a summer in which the UK has seen unprecedented temperatures and drought has been declared. Describing this album in that way may seem…

Motorpsycho – Ancient Astronauts

Motorpsycho are back with their fourth album in as many years, 2019’s The Crucible having been followed by the “Covid years” albums The All is One (2020) and Kingdom of Oblivion (2021), and here we are presented with Ancient Astronauts.…

Ryo Okumoto – The Myth of the Mostrophus

Ryo Okumoto, keyboard wizard in Spock’s Beard, appears to have got bored with the hiatus that his main band seem to be on, and so has decided to form his own version of the band and record an album. Well,…

mobiUS – Make the Promise

mobiUS are a new band which came together in the summer of 2021, formed by a group of session players led by the ‘creative architect’ Tim Newcombe. Their debut album, Make the Promise, is released by White Knight Records, which…

Ebony Buckle – Disco Lasers

Don’t be put off by the title of Disco Lasers, folks! Ebony Buckle has produced one of the most beautiful, evocative and thoughtful debut albums I have come across by a female vocalist in any genre. Ebony has a truly…

Lobate Scarp – You Have It All

The old proverb that ‘Good things come to those who wait’ couldn’t be more appropriate for You Have It All, the superb second album from Adam Sears and his Lobate Scarp symphonic prog project. 10 years since the band’s debut,…