THERE ARE NO ORDINARY MOMENTS

Structuring a band without a singer, who is usually the most direct vehicle of communication to express the ideas developed in words, is an additional challenge for those who travel this route. But for the Americans Ovrfwrd, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem, and with "There are no Ordinary Moments", their fifth album, they prove it. An album that develops fluidly, with pieces that recreate landscapes of clear seventies influence spiced with jazz ingredients, like the watery "Notes of the Concubine" and its experimental Crimsonian airs, or the lively "Serpentine" and its walls of sound that at times resemble the Rush of their second and most recognisable period.

But there is not only a festive revival of heroes of the genre, Ovrfwrd contribute their own harvest to combine a balanced and forceful work, highlighting the great versatility and solvency of Mark Ilaug with the guitars, as in the initial Red Blanket and its powerful riffs, one of the best pieces of the album, or the neat accompaniment in "Tramp Hollow", the brief flamenco wink in the aforementioned "Note of Concubine" and the solo in the conclusive "The Way", the mastery of the keyboards that Chris Malmgren impeccably lavishes on the psychedelic chords of "Eagle Pains", the mellotrons of "The Virtue of. ..", or the dripping spacey sound of the brief "Chateau La Barrre", and the percussive intensity of the witless Richard Davenport, as in the hardened "Flatlander" and the extended "Eyota", backed by the sober bass support of Kyle Lund who, as throughout the work, sustains the rhythmic base with aplomb.

"There are no Ordinary Moments", is a very good album, and although the presence of a singer would surely add nuances to Ovrfwrd's wide palette of colours, it doesn't miss his absence and shows a solid band that not only promises but also delivers, and deserves a greater repercussion than it currently has.

3,5 stars