EEMYNOR

A French band that only came into my awareness by way of their excellent 2017 release, Endless Mystery, though they've been around since at least 2011.

1. "Eemynor" (8:27) interesting Giancarlo Erra soundscape with Middle Eastern instruments and sounds peppering the sonic landscape. At the two-minute mark Gilbert Gandil's Fripp-ish "infinity guitar" (e-bow?) enters. Pretty. At 3:05 we switch to a plucked electrified acoustic guitar chord progression as the stark foundation. More blues rock-sounding guitar solos intermittently between and around Richard's whisper-sung vocal. (17.5/20)

2. "Signs in the Sand" (9:40) Part One sounds like Steven Wilson's 1990s Porcupine Tree. (17.667/20)

3. "Burning Hopes" (4:52) graced by the gorgeous voice of Catherine Pick, this sounds a bit like a Scandanavian dream pop band--like something by Anna Järvinen or Stina Nordenstam. (8.75/10) 4. "Monsoon Lights" (4:49) dobro-like stringed instrument strummed with Indian woodwind (daf) while Richard and Pick perform a vocal duet. Their timing, unfortunately, is not very well synchronized. Nice music beneath, though. (8.5/10)

5. "Spandam" (4:42) opens with guitar picked like something rom PINK FLOYD's The Wall ("Goodbye Blue Sky"). In the second minute it ramps up with full band for a nice HACKETT-like guitar solo. Interesting how close this sounds to several other famous songs (including Crhis Isaak's "Wicked Game"). (8.667/10)

6. "Morning Rain (5:12) picked and plucked electrified acoustic guitar descending chord sequence support vocals from both Richard and Catherine, alternating and together. Catherine's choruses have the support of the full band with drums; verses are sparse with only the complement of guitars and bass. Instrumental "C" section is sparse with "lonely" clarinet soloing over guitars and delicate cymbal play. (8.75/10)

7. "Song for Syd (6:34) with the arrival of this very Tim Bowness (No-Man)- or Giancarlo Erra (NoSound)-like song I am reminded of the effect that those two respective artist's albums have on me: I enjoy the beautiful songs and soundscapes they present to the listener--tremendously--on an indivicual song-by-song basis but find myself getting quite fatigued and disinterested over the course of an entire album. Nice song but I'm starting to get fatigued. (8.667/10)

8. "Number 9 (3:18) a looped monastic-like chant opens the first minute of this song as walkie-talkie-like vocal samples plays within. A Harold Budd-like treated piano scape then takes over before more military-like radio talk and Tibetan-like chant loop return. I also really enjoy the computer clicking used for the percussion track. A cool, refreshingly innovative song. My favorite on the album. (9/10)

Total Time 47:34

Endless Mystery received my personal dedication as prog's "ear candy" album of 2017 and Eemynor falls right into the same vein but it's just not quite as compelling.

B/four stars; an very nice addition to any prog lover's music collection.