AND LIFE GOES ON

Take MOSTLY AUTUMN, pick off the celtic stuff and the female vocals but add a touch of Porcupine Tree or heavy prog in general. Looking at Pink Floyd add a bit of Roger Waters of the early period and remove a bit of David Gilmour, but not too much. Mix all the ingredients and you'll have an idea of what this album is about.

First of all this is an excellent album. What doesn't convince me is the "Psychedelic/Space Rock" label, as I hear more neo-prog and prog-folk in this French band.

The production is good as well as the songwriting.

"Time Has Passed" is the track that makes me think to the Mostly Autumn. Very melodic with a Josh like guitar very reminding of "The Last Bright Light". The storm noises between this song and "Do It Alone" are as Floydian as MA are. I'm not saying that BNP are a copy. Probably they are influenced by the Floyd in the same way. This second track has almost the same chords of "Breathe", a thing quite common even with Porcupine Tree. A big difference is the good sax solo that luckily doesn't have anything of Dick Parry. If I had to compare this song with something else I'd say Porcupine Tree or RPWL more than MA.

"Where Everything is Dark" turns back to the MA style. I'm a MA fan since their first albums so this is not a bad thing for me. Of course the male vocalist doesn't have anything of Heather Findlay and the choirs are very close to Porcupine Tree. (the Signify period, more or less).

"Face The Truth" opens with the noises of a western movie, then piano and voice. We are still in the same vein. This is a slow and melodic song. Think to "Feel So Low" to have an idea. Anyway the melody is not trivial and the guitar solo is not bad even if surely not very "original".

"Drops In The Ocean" is, as usual, opened by waves on seashores, then a subtle keyboard with high pitched bells starts baking the vocalist. This is a very nice song. Acoustic (12strings) guitar makes the rhythmic part. We are still somewhere between Floyd, MA and PT. Who likes the genre will surely like this album as well. In particular this song reminds me to "Mother Nature".

A child's cry starts "Interlude" followed by chimes, then lead guitar. Also this is very nice, mellow and soft but this time instead of PT this has a bit of Camel. Not bad, isn't it?

"Where Are U?" is a ballad with 12strings, vocals and cello. There's no need to say what it seems....

"Somewhere Between Here and There" is more electronic, with an intro that Edgar Froese would surely like. After the drums have joined the electronic and the vocals start we are in a late Floyd mood. The production is interesting as the vocals are not totally in foreground. I can compare it in some way to "Wearing the Inside Out". For me it's the best track of the whole album.

"Lost" seems really a Mostly Autumn song, even in the choice of the sounds. However it's a good song well played and arranged.

"Disappeared" is in the same vein. The guitarist is very close to Josh's style as well as the drums sound close to Blackmore Jr.

Finally the longest track: "She Prefers Her Dreams". A very good long song that seems taken from "Passengers" or from "Heart Full of Sky".

So in brief, if you like Mostly Autumn or Porcupine Tree (that means that you love Pink Floyd, too) you will surely like this album. Black Noodle Project is a good band. Should Heather Findlay look for a new band I suggest her to check if they want a female vocalist (and vice- versa). This is a very good album, full of good music but of a kind already heard, so even if I strongly suggest it to all the fans of the genre I can't say that it's essential. There's nothing psychedelic or spacey. Of course they are not heavy as PT and not folk as MA, so classifying them under the same subgenre of Pink Floyd is probably not too wrong.

3 stars (4 if you love this kind of music)