STARSTUFF

OVRFWRD is an American instrumental progressive rock band formed in 2012; for the record, the singer did not show up during the sessions. Their motto is to refine the vintage sound of the 70's with jazz-rock touches that they like so much on this 4th album. Intense, colorful, engaging music to make you travel, soothing, ardent, dreamy and mysterious; quite a bit of influences brewed - over and over again yes I couldn't help but put it there - to get a sound of their own. Hop, quickly let's dive into it. "Firelight" opens the album with a DEEP PURPLE intro, a very greasy organ then an orchestral variation on RUSH embellished with Frippian curves, it is at the same time fresh and dark, mysterious and bewitching, progressive because we dematerializes in a space-time. "Let It Burn (King George)" completely changes register with this bucolic flute and piano tune well in phases; a calm, moderate rhythm, a crystalline break to shine a little more light, we play on the edges of Canterbury school here, there is energy in a good sense of the word like a homecoming; the endless guitar solo melts the last resistances and confirms here that we can be on a heavy prog register but not only, far from it. Majestic "StarStuff"! How many times have I given it this haunting title, melancholy spleen and filled with hope; that I like when you hear music in different ways depending on your mood at the time, this song is there for that; a meditative journey generated by an omnipresent synth and a repetitive song on the guitar taking you into a maelstrom; memory to a sound of APSARAS or THE GUITAR ORCHESTRA from 1991 that sticks to the brain without being able to get rid of it, perfect what. "Look Up" with a heavy and heavy rhythm at the beginning gives the impression of going back to good old heavy, then blues, bam it goes into a jazzy current suddenly supported by a drums led by "master sticks"; bass well present until the fluid exit of the guitar printing a singular tune, then return of the electric piano and back and forth between the two proposed tunes, a short track that twirls and can take you very far, OVRFWRD did it. "Daybreak" or a piano study, a sidereal interlude of unfailing melancholy freshness, a moment of instrumental purity that could be longer, 2nd replay of this album, perhaps because the sound is original. I realize that in theory I am not a fan of this musical genre, but there I love it, interesting and stunning. "Zathras" and crystalline guitar notes then again from the piano, but what an intro, the rhythm comes in a progressive, symphonic way, a composition which brings me back to certain composers of contemporary music in fact, the bass fills the air, the drums growling saturates, the guitar extends this effect on a hypnotic solo twirling scales; one of the best crescendos I just heard there, it's energetic, rhythmic, perfect; I'm stuck, I want more. "From Parts Unknown" for the final (already!) US, the Ry COODER slide guitar, a country tune then on the piano it becomes more folk-song, progressive! Yes, I am fighting this word a little 'has been' I confirm it, we are well inside, in short, confusing; but that we are far from the heavy prog label read on ProgArchives, I will have to ask them two words! Okay, last track and I find a bit of LOU REED, CANNED HEAT in it and fresher, more lively; I also find the mark of US prog there with these mythical guitar flights, those where we imagined a much longer cover in concert, those where we forgot to think, those where we switched to the same sound , where our senses suddenly found themselves weakened and disconnected; tune for a few moments that even reminds me of BLACK SABBATH on the album "Never Say Die"; an outro like in days gone by which cuts a fine figure and brings back other memories, it is pure musical creation. The instrumental progression is here at its firmament, giving varied musical tracks on one side, offering faceted musical drawers stuffed with colorful notes. Interpreting notes to re-translate powerful, dreamlike and devilishly pleasant atmospheres, that's what OVRFWRD did on this album. An unstoppable sound technique that makes me regret not having known them before. A group album where everyone has their place and communicates with others. For once I am going out of my reserve by asking you to get this timeless nugget. I say no more, damn good.