LIGHT UP

Light Up is a fine album by the veteran Milton Keynes band and a great improvement over Sia, their last recorded effort. This is because the band have struck up a balance between the song's music and the impressive vocals of singer Jess Holland. A balance that I felt was missing last time around, in favor of showing off Holland's vocals at the expense of music that one could sink their teeth into.

That feeling returns on Light Up, with band leader and songwriter Andy Glass displaying his exiting touch of shredding guitar leads mixed with exquisite melodicism as only he can do. Fiddle player Jenny Newman is in more of a support role this time around as is keyboard player Steven McDaniel, but both add depth and layering to the songs that help convey dramatic moods and flights of fancy. Pete Hemsley and Robin Phillips, on drums and bass respectively, are still far from my favorite rhythm section in prog but they do rise to the occasion this time around. Especially on the near Motown rhythms of "Wongle. No. 9", an R&B like gem with good old fashioned call and response vocals from Miss Jess. An album highlight, as is the optimistic opening title track and the Glass guitar tour de force of album closer "Bulbul Tarang", which is a type of Indian stringed instrument heard at the beginning of the song. "Run" and "Home" are excellent prog workouts with lyrics that focus on the beauty of home and are the bands celebration of it, be it "home" in whatever sense the listener conceives from the expressive music and vocals.

Solstice may be looked on as a second string 80's derived neo-prog band behind such heavy hitters like Marillion, IQ, Pendragon and the like, but that's down to musical short sided-ness, I'm afraid, because they really deserve to be on every neo-prog fan's playlist. 4 stars.