A DOORWAY TO SUMMER

In Moonsafari, Sweden has produced yet anotherfine young prog band, and their debut album 'A Doorway To Summer' holds great promise for the future. Comparisons with the Flower Kings are inevitable, but this music seems simpler, brighter, more optimistic in tone. There is none of the jazzy feel that Reinglod's fretless bass brings to Stolt's group, and the guitar here is less dominant. Perhaps there is just a little less self-indulgence, and it is noticable that no track feels too long, not even the twenty-five minute 'We Spin The World'.

'Doorway' begins the way they mean to go on - acoustic guitar and piano soon joined by voice(s). The simple memorable melodies and vocal harmonies are repeated throughout the album to great effect. Several times those harmonies reminded me of the sound of the very earliest Yes albums. 'Dance Across the Ocean' begins with a great hook line which will stay in your head for days, and brings me back to the album time and time again. 'We Spin The World' is the core piece on the album, and worthy of the title. It is a lovely piece, carefully crafted with musical themes introduced, developed and reprised - worthy of the Flower Kings at their best.

A debut as fresh as this makes me long for the follow-up. Hopefully they can fulfil the promise that these five fine songs holds out and go on to claim their place as prog greats of the future.