LIGHT UP

Britain's gift of melodic positivity returns with another polished masterpiece of engaging and uplifting prog lite.

1. "Light Up" (5:39) great up-beat syncopated rhythm track with lots of prog sounds and great harmony group vocals over the top singing in their usual life- and love-affirming messages. I love the interplay in the fifth minute between Jenny Newman's violin and Jess Holland's wordless vocalese followed a similar interplay between Andy Glass's lead guitar and Steven McDaniel's organ in the final minute. Awesome! (9.125/10)

2. "Wongle No. 9" (7:14) Funk! Sounds like Leonid And Friends or Orgone/Say She She! There's that kind of joy and enthusiasm exuding from this music! The guitar and keyboard work from Andy and Steven sound so emotional and heart-felt--as are the amazing vocal performances from Jess Holland and her three Graces (Ebony, Jen, and Jenny, otherwise known as Aglaia [Radiance], Ephrosyne [Joy], and Thalia [Bloom]). Amazing song that holds its engaging energy from start to finish. (14.75/15)

3. "Mount Ephraim" (5:59) back to some folk roots with some acoustic violin leading the way, but then the rhythm section shoots in the funky undergrowth and we have more joy-dancing music to get excited for. Despite nice solos from Andy, Jenny and Steven the song never reaches another gear (which would have to be overdrive) nor offers much in the way of interesting diversions--but it's still so solid--so good! (9/10)

4. "Run" (8:14) endless reverb on several well-spaced opening electric guitar chords remind me a bit of Chirs Isaak or John Martyn. Jenny's plaintive electric violin and programmed drums join in before Jess enters singing in a delicate-though-passionate vocal. Beautiful. I'm reminded a bit of Jane Siberry and Sarah MacLachlan as well as IONA's Joanne Hogg. Such a beautiful voice. At the five-minute mark the drums, bass, keys, and violin kick in to support an instrumental passage. It's heavier and more insistent in its melancholy than the vocal section with Andy Glass's powerful lead guitar rousing our emotions from some lower and mid-range noteplaying while Jess and The Graces slowly creep into the mix with increasingly-more-prominent choir vocals. (13.75/15)

5. "Home" (6:42) this one definitely sounds as if it comes directly off of an IONA or Suzanne Vega-like album. Very nice music to support Jess Holland's typical stunning vocal performance. Please, let's not let ourselves grow accustomed to this amazing vocalist's extraordinary talents! Nice violin and keyboard doubling up in the second half of the fourth minute. Nor should I let an entire album go by without extolling the solid performances of the Robin Phillips-Pete Hemsley rhythm section: their contributions are so flawless that you're prone to want to take them for granted, yet the music would not/could not be this good without their professional performances. By no means is this a weka song, it's just not quite as powerful or (8.875/10)

6. "Bulbul Tarang" (10:24) an exposition of absolutely perfect prog fusion: here taking a page from the George Harrison playbook with the cooption of some Indian themes, bringing them into an ascendent/transendent Jon Anderson/Yes-like form and style using the rich textures of their prog sound palette in cooperation with the extraordinary vocal talents of the entire cast and crew. (The live in the studio video version of this is quite extraordinary--perhaps even better than this version because it is so spirited.) Heart-wrenching performances from Steven McDaniel (on piano) in the sixth minute with the incredibly-delicate choir vocals behind him. Wow! I'm in tears! Then we get some first-rate lead guitar work from Andy Glass before the gentle choir vocals return to lull us into peaceful bliss before everybody steps up to blow us away with some whole-group power the likes of which is oh-so-rare in art. Then Andy's even-more-impassioned guitar licks and more BIG vocal bursts to take us to the end. Amazing finish to an amazing musical experience. (19.125/20)

Total Time 44:12

Though it may be common that a song or lyric can help elevate or transport the human spirit, it is rather rare that a whole album can achieve this. I'm not going to say that I feel blissed out the entire time I listen to this album, but a lot of it--and certainly a lot more when I watch the in-studio video releases of these songs. Even the live on-stage versions have some of this effect on me.

A/five stars; an unequivocal masterpiece of uplifting prog rock. HIGHLY recommended--especially to those who like an occasional injection of numinous light into your life.

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