LOST

The journey began on OTR's debut Remnants Of Life, a quasi-conceptual mixture of adult rock, melodic prog and spacerock that was one of 2009's highlights. Follow-up Lost finds us stranded somewhere deep in hyperspace and is perhaps even better: its ingredients are similar, but are now effortlessly homogenized into a more rounded and ultimately more satisfying form, awash with imaginative touches, sublime melodies and euphoric grooves.

As before, celebrity guests add musical colour to augment the basic duo: sadly no Nik Turner this time, but Cyndee Lee Rule [viper violin] and Bridget Wishart [vocal, EWI] are back with vital contributions, alongside others on flute, sax and various vocals. Bridget's "it's always real" interlude in Planetscape is bewitching perfection amongst any number of highlights liberally strewn across the album's 80 minutes.

Although the near 25 minute prog epic The Mirror Of Her Dreams might be considered the album's pièce de résistance, my personal favourite is Transdimensional Flight, a slow burner that drips with a sense of loss evoking the spirit of the album's title, and by the way has some lovely acoustic guitar. Stellar performances abound of course, with only minor criticisms - I still would prefer to hear a live drummer - but overall it is another superb offering in what is turning out to be a Very Good Year for this kind of music.

One thing is for sure - it's psychedelic. But I am unsure (and I mean very unsure, like totally clueless) about whether it's modern Psychedelic, old-school 70s Psych Prog, late 60s, psych in a manner of weird voices and messages, or just Psych tingled pop, or rather folk. Oh, wait a minute, this album is all of it together, managing to patch these elements together (skillfully) and they even have one unique wildcard - vocals department. Female vocals here are simply amazing (and it doesn't matter which track, I get a feeling that all of them are great).

This WILL leave you satisfied.

UK project OSIRIS THE REBIRTH is the brainchild of veteran composer and instrumentalist Dave Adams. A short-lived project he formed back in the 1980's originally, revived 20 or so years later when time and opportunity was right for fully developing the ideas formed back then. "Lost" is the second production to be issued under this moniker, and was released in 2011.

A few keywords about this disc will most likely be sufficient to give this album the attention needed from the right audience. Science Fiction concept album as a general description and space rock is the style of choice. Enough of a description to send the core audience of this particular production looking I gather. Especially if I add references such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd.

But there's a bit more to this disc than what one might surmise by this brief description however. Conceptual interludes of a cinematic nature is kind of expected I presume, and that the majority of the first half of the album takes turns between those and bass driven passages flanked by fluctuating futuristic synths and gentler excursions with synth textures with more of an oscillating expression doesn't really add much either presumably. With the occasional lapse into darker toned, careful keyboard and guitar solo territories of the kind that built Pink Floyd a stellar career as another expected element. Even the ethereal, electric violin soloing belongs within what one might expect from the initial brief description.

The other side of this band's repertoire unfolds by and large in the second half of "Lost", and first and foremost in the four compositions ending it. Wheezing organs and gentle flutes are added to the proceedings here, not as replacements for the space rock synths but as additional features, sometimes as standalone theme providers and other times with one or more traditional space rock flavourings adding depth and flavouring. This blend of 70's art rock, symphonic flavouring and space rock, combined with the mature vocals from the various female guest vocalists, adds a particular mood to this disc. One rather similar in nature to the rejuvenated Beggar's Opera actually. The major difference being that Osiris The Rebirth limits themselves to occasional visits into this stylistic expression, albeit sometimes elongated ones, always returning to a more traditional space rock or purebred futuristic sound. As best documented in the monumental final piece The Mirror of Her Dreams, just under 25 minutes of space rock ebbing and flowing between the purebred space rock expression and the gentler, art rock oriented style with less of an emphasis on futuristic elements.

There are many fine moments on this album, and quite a few passages that does manage to conjure the sense of wonder those who read science fiction books will be familiar with. And while it would be hard to describe the music as inventive as such, it's a fine specimen of the genre, and one that will appeal to a select audience. An audience that probably won't get to the end of this description prior to hitting YouTube for samples of this album I assume. On a personal level I did find the rhythm department to be slightly lacking, a tad too mechanical in sound and performance to my liking. But apart from that a nice space rock disc that will have it's strongest appeal to those who already have a soft spot for this type of music.