PERCIPIO ERGO SUM

"Percipio Ergo Sum" (I understand you) is the second solo effort of German musician and producer Jens LUECK best known for being the mentor of SYRINX CALL mainly. His personal project is called SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM, this is his second album, the first "Splinter In The Eye" released in 2017 went completely unnoticed by my radar (and many others...) showed a strong influence of the progressive music of the seventies, the golden age as we call it regularly and historically in our pages and elsewhere.

Jens LUECK offers us a tasty mix of progressive mini epics and more affordable titles for the uninitiated, two tracks exceed eight minutes while seven display between four and six minutes. The overall musical quality of the whole is significant and Volker KUINKE, the star flutist of SYRINX CALL, only intervenes on one title, so there is no risk of duplication in terms of interpretation.

"She's Awake" the inaugural title is a melodic pearl in the first sense which starts on the piano (with some female vocals by Isgaard MARKE) followed by a gradual rise in the form of layers of synthesizers before the flamboyant guitar of Ingo SALZMANN ignites the finale of the piece, one of the great successes of the album (9/10), that's a good omen. I talked about mini epics, here is the first of the two, "The Final Door" led by a play of drums and voluble percussion, embellished by slightly veiled but very pleasant vocals, a double guitarized, acoustic piece (Jürgen OSUCHOWSKI) and electric (Johnny BECK), the great timeless progressive that every supporter must appreciate, great art (10/10).

"I'd Like To See", a calm opening title, even hovering, lit by Katja FLINTSCH's violin, could be a hit on the radio if our current generalist media were willing to take the trouble to broadcast progressive music (8/10) while that "Ride on a Ray" after a piano introduction of the most beautiful effect, is moving more towards alternative rock (OASIS and its most progressive titles are not far away), with an excellent six-string solo (by Ingo SALZMANN) in its second part (8/10).

The three following titles have in common their duration, between six and seven minutes, and whoever says more extended inevitably says more prog, from the more Gilmourian than Floydian ballad "Doubts" (8/10) passing through the energetic and catchy "Save Me From Dreaming" (9/10) sung in two voices, male (Jens himself) and female (Isgaard MARKE, also his companion in everyday life) to end up almost metallic (in his second half) "I'm Not Human" (9/10), the triptych of these appears as one of the strengths of the album.

"Hey You" doesn't have much to do with the sensational title of the same name, proposed by four famous Britons more than thirty years ago, I thought I heard more of SYLVAN or CRYSTAL PALACE to stay in GERMANY and more recently (8/10), a pleasant range with the addition in the final part of classical instrumentation (Katja FLINTSCH on violin and viola and Olek BAKKI on the lowest cello) which reveals its richness over time after multiple listenings.

The short, posed and dreamy "Humble" sung by Isgaard (7/10) is the obligatory passage to the second fresco of the work "Entanglement Runs" (10/10) a powerfully progressive firework if ever there was one, main reason why we appreciate musicians and their music! who sail in the progressive sphere (I have just named CRYSTAL PALACE, here is a piece that is very similar to it, whether for guitars or synthesizers...). The concluding and bucolic "In hale The Dark" is a simple piano/voice (double) which allows us a soft landing, it's not really my "thing", probably just a question of sensitivity (7/10), however, we are not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Let's finish our analysis with the story itself, "PERCIPIO ERGO SUM" is the conceptual continuation of "SPLINTER IN THE EYE", two entities are present BARNABY and the girl from the TV. He is the creator of a bizarre experiment (raising a human in an isolated space with no opening to the outside, our world) his credo is COGITO ERGO SUM (DESCARTES I think therefore I am) while SHE knows nothing about him and her philosophy is different PERCIPIO ERGO SUM (I perceive therefore I am) for her everything is linked, everything interacts and it is impossible to isolate a person or a process.

A big thank you to Jens LUECK for his help in understanding the story, we will be waiting impatiently and curiously for the third part... In 2025? In the immediate future, I urge you to make room not far from the zenith for SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM.