MUSIC IS OUR FRIEND (LIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C. AND ALBANY, 2021)

King Crimson's late-period, live-focused revival has come to an end, and so we're currently (as of the time of writing) in a King Crimson hiatus. Such things have not been uncommon over the band's life, though clearly Robert Fripp is not going to be with us forever and there's a sense of greater finality this time, not least because the most recent lineup's live performances have found the band reconciled with every phase of their illustrious past.

Music Is Our Friend is a capstone to this era - not as long as some of the encyclopedic live releases, but not redundant either, since there's a different atmosphere this time around, the melancholy of this era of the band coming to a close blending with the hope inherent in being able to perform again after COVID lockdowns disrupted touring plans. Everything seems a bit less tense and more laid back - this isn't quite easy listening King Crimson by any means, but there's a gentleness creeping in we're unaccustomed to hearing from them. We don't quite get to a King Crimson answer to Steely Dan by any means, but we're not miles away from that either.

The closing rendition of Islands is aptly chosen - a beautiful song, and a highlight of the album in question, and a piece which Fripp rediscovered his love for whilst working with Steven Wilson on the King Crimson archival releases of recent years, it was a song which marked the end of one incarnation of the band when it came out and serves just as well here. King Crimson has spent 50 years insisting to us that "confusion will be my epitaph"; here there is a faint chance that tranquility, peace, and acceptance might be the King's epitaph instead.