BLOMLJUD

I must say I was not too thrilled when I heard that Moon Safari´s new release would be a double studio CD. their first album was promising, but such a massive efford could only meant two things: a lot of self indulgence or a lot of inspiration. Fortunally, Blomljud is one of the rare cases of the latter option. From the first notes of the a capella Constant Blue you get the feeling this is a winner. Their formula is basicly the same: very much influenced by Yes (specially the more acoustic side of their classic period), Moody Blues, with some Alan Parsons and early Genesis here and there. Yet they added some more bold jazzy arrangements, giving their already excellent vocal harmonies a new edge they did not have on their debut. They sound also a bit more symphonic than on A Doorway To Summer.

The instrumental parts are also much improved, with some amazing subtle and effective interventions. Moon Safari is not your average prog band in terms of long instrumental jams. They rather stay in the ´song´ format, in which they are highly successful. They are still pretty much a vocal band, but that does not mean they are not skillful musicians themselves. They are. In fact it is hard to believe they can play and sing it all that well! Amazing! I loved specially the keyboards lines, with some great piano, hammond organ and very classy mellotron! But they simply don´t lose themselves in a lot of experimentations, like other swedish prog bands, The Flower Kings being the obvious exemple. Moon Safari seems to like to craft their stuff with beginning, middle and end parts. Even their 30 minute epic Other Half Of The Sky sounds like a big song. And it does not bore you a second! In fact the more I hear this album, the more I love it.

Blomljud was given a better production, writing and playing than their first release. What was good (sometimes very good), now reached the excellency leavel. With no fillers, but lots of talent and guts this CD may not be regarded as a masterpiece, but boy, do they come close! (in my humble opinion they should invest a little bit more on their instrumental side, thus the 4,5 star rate, but I might as well change it to 5 star latter). If you like the melodic, cheerful side of prog, this is a must have. One of the best releases in 2008 and one fo the rare double CDs that are worth every penny spent on it. Moon Safari is a band to watch closely from now on. Highly recommended!