TO TOUCH THE SKY

Number four, like in "The Prisoner" in the sixties/seventies! but here Patrick MacGOOHAN is replaced by Ally CARTER and his playmates from THE EMERALD DAWN. Two years exactly after their previous opus "Nocturne" which I had already told you about on profilprog.com without a change of personnel for the first time in the career of the British formation.

If I wanted to be short, I would say that those who enjoyed the previous album will like this one, but the musicians of THE EMERALD DAWN (like others) deserve better than that. Of course the comments and annotations of "Nocturne" are valid for this "To Touch the Sky" since the iconography is always due to the brushes and the protean talent of Tree STEWART, the musical construction and the framework of the compositions are done under the leadership of Ally CARTER with the active participation of the three other members of the group.

There are only 3 titles on this opus but three long titles, the shortest "The Awakening" which opens the album displays eleven minutes fifteen! Little sung in two voices, male then female, dark for Ally, evanescent for Tree, a calm piece in its first half and more nervous in its second, guitar and keyboards answering and supporting each other throughout (9/10).

The second track "And I Stood Transfixed" and its quarter of an hour is hardly sung, only the title of the piece is pronounced several times by Tree STEWART and led by the saxophone of Ally CARTER and the multiple and inventive keyboards of Madame STEWART who also uses a flute (around the sixth minute), as in the first title the beginning is rather serene, the sequel a bit crazy (Ally's greasy saxophone recognizable to regulars) all this before finding a calm portion ( 9/10).

We are left with "The Ascent" with its twenty-two minutes and its fourteen sub-parts, truly inseparable, layers of synthesizers in the preamble, untied piano and flute which follow, the six strings appear in the second minute and the diaphanous voice of Tree STEWART in the fourth (this is the story of life in the village market and the reflections of the inhabitants on the future, we are reluctantly in tune with the times), the use of keyboards is quite simply Majestic with a capital M; the saxophone intervenes mid-piece supported by the drum rolls of Tom JACKSON and the rumbles of the bass guitar of David GREENAWAY, a pearly work until the end of the piece as one would say at the couturiers, here at the expense of the British quartet, great musical art for those who are willing to make the effort to be familiar with THE EMERALD DAWN (10/10).

A little personal opinion to conclude, this "To Touch the Sky" is the Cornish band's best album to date.