PRAYER

This is an album with a very clean sound, as if jazz rock fusion from the Seventies has now found its way to Japan. I am not denigrating the genre, or the album, it is just that this is what this sounds like. On opener 'Magnetic Factor' the high vocals are used as an instrument, and somehow it reminds me of the Pearl & Dean music, but it is still enjoyable. When the band do go heavier as on 'The Fourth Way' they show that they can be a powerful force, with room for the ideas to keep forcing their way through in a loose but constructed manner. Akisha Tsuboy guests on one song, but the coup for the band must be the involvement of David Sinclair on 'Richard', which is dedicated to his colleague Richard Sinclair. This contains a lot of clarity and simplicity with pure vocals, as well as some sections which are much more reminiscent of Matching Mole. Interesting and pleasant, but not essential.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004