V Ä L V Ē, Chloe Herington (right)

Chlöe Herington – V Ä L V Ē

Chlöe Herington is a woman with a long history on the prog-adjacent fringes of this weird scene we inhabit. TPA’s Roger Trenwith had a chance to chat with her about her project V Ä L V Ē, their imminent new…

The Flower Kings

The Flower Kings

The 1865, Southampton Thursday, 19th October 2023 Five fellas in assorted brightly coloured shirts and one rather dashing blazer saunter through the audience at Southampton’s The 1865, mount the stage, casually take time to ensure all their instruments are tuned…

Nick Fletcher - Quadrivium

Nick Fletcher – Quadrivium

Last year, I wrote in glowing terms about Nick Fletcher’s second solo album, The Cloud of Unknowing. It was his most coherent and consistent electric guitar-led album to date, raising the bar even higher than his impressive solo debut, Cycles…

Southern Empire – Another World

Southern Empire – Another World

Southern Empire continue the current wave of Australian albums hitting our progressive music shores with their third album, Another World. They face the challenge of following their brilliant 2018 release Civilisation with new singer Shaun Holton, after the amicable departure…

The Flower Kings at Cacaofabriek Helmond

The Flower Kings

Cacaofabriek, Helmond, The Netherlands Saturday, 13th May 2022 A special performance by The Flower Kings (TFK), that’s what was announced some time ago. Under the moniker ‘King For A Day’ (reference to Gentle Giant?) a limited number of shows were…

Fusion 4: Day Three

The Civic Hall, Stourport Sunday, 5th March, 2023 LEAGUE OF LIGHTS (Rosamund Tomlins) A wonderful way to start off the Sunday repertoire of, once again, varied bands that makes Fusion always such a brilliant festival! A delightfully stimulating choice for…

Lazuli - Onze

Lazuli – Onze

French prog rockers Lazuli have just launched their new album, Onze (’11’), the first with new guitarist Arnaud Beynaud. Onze is the sequel to 2020’s Le Fantastique Envol de Dieter Böhm, an album dedicated to the band’s fans, through one…

Wizrd - Seasons

Wizrd – Seasons

The rather oddly named Wizrd are another interesting bunch from Norway who are hard to pigeonhole, and that’s nearly always a good thing in my book. Sonically they employ retro-sounding instrumentation, but what they do with those instruments is more…

Wokingham Festival

Wokingham Festival 2022

Cantley Park, Wokingham, UK Monday, 29th August 2022 The Berkshire town of Wokingham offers a most delightful summer festival! It’s a small family-friendly community event, with live music as the big draw, taking place in one level field in Cantley…

The Blackheart Orchestra – Hotel Utopia

Hotel Utopia is the stunning new album by the award-winning, Manchester-based multi-instrumental duo of Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington. Elegantly weaving together elements of prog, art-rock, pop, electronica and classical music into enchanting, cinematic soundscapes of both power and delicacy,…