OSTARA

This new release from Steve Rothery's The Wishing Tree side project sees him and collaborator Hannah Stobart - along with a selection of guest musicians which includes their two spouses - producing a pleasant acoustic folk rock album with mildly proggy, mildly gothy touches - a bit like an even more folk-focused incarnation of All About Eve. (Apparently, when Steve was originally considering an acoustic-themed side project he originally approached Julianne Regan of All About Eve but she wasn't interested.) If you're coming here expecting wild neo-prog guitar solos of the sort Rothery has made his trademark, you'll be disappointed, but Rothery and Stobart do a decent job of producing the type of music they've set out to create here, even if it doesn't really break much in the way of new ground.