MISCELLANY

Miscellany was created during the recording sessions in London while making their second album which will be released in Sept 2014. Due to the long time it took to produce the album the band chose to release this EP as a treat to those fans who had funded them via kick-starter (myself included). This release contains a mixture of tracks from the upcoming album Belighted, alternative versions of new and older songs and one b-side.

The first song on this EP is "to human misery" which is an alternative chamber version to the song that will appear on the new album. Its a incredibly beautiful and catchy song and is my favorite on the EP. Unlike some of the other pretty songs on ~ its instantly accessible and yet does not fall into the trap of simplification. If their other quiet songs are like this then I am going to in for a real treat! I am looking forward to hearing the album version which apparently is much heavier.

"the simple story" and "intermission XII" are both directly taken from the new album. The former is a mid tempo rock song with some strong hooks that the band excel in doing. They have done stronger songs of this type however this song was meant to be a radio friendly single (it has its own music video). So as singles go its a strong track with lasting appeal unlike most poppier songs. The latter is a short neo-classical piece in the exact same vein as the intermissions on their debut album. Unlike the other pieces this one has several sections in it and has a darker atmosphere. It strongly reminds me of the shorter songs Steven Wilson used on Grace for Drowning. Hopefully they will be thinking on the same lines and use this song as a bridge to other songs with the same mood.

"scotland (unplugged)" is a interesting version of the original song. The first part of the song is mostly the same as the original while the second (which used to be quite rough and heavy) uses a lot of distortion and intense orchestra to make the listener disorientated and drawn into their world. Its certainly a highlight of the EP and as strong as the original (which was one of my favorite songs on ~).

"touching II (london mix)" is close to identical to the original song so its not worth talking about. "intermission VIII" is only available on this EP. Its a quiet piece and not as strong as the other classical songs, but it does make for a pleasant closer.

I tend to give EP's like this 3 stars because they are clearly not essential when compared to the rest of their releases. However while some of the songs here are not very special the flow from song to song on this EP is fantastic. This makes the songs so much more satisfying to listen to. So I will give this a extra star and recommend it to all casual fans (but get their debut first). I really hope the new album is up to the standard of this EP and ~, if it is then these guys will become stars in the prog world. And with them now signed up to Kscope perhaps the wider rock and classical world as well. Watch this space.

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