HUMAN GEOMETRY

Well this was a surprise. I had heard that High Spy had revamped their line up and, after the lacklustre release that was their previous effort - the half good, half awful 'The Code' - I was sure that this was a good thing. I wasn't so sure about what kind of album they would produce. It seems that the new recruits have given the band a kick up the posterior. This is a quality release. They have produced a prog rock album which veers towards the rock more than the prog. The keyboard skills of Mark Price remain the dominant factor, but the band have toughened up. There is a drive to the band which wasn't there before. Elements of '80s era Rush combined with The Police give the rhythm section fresh vigour and push the music along insistently. All six tracks are superb and don't meander, even the ten minute plus 'Circles & Squares', benefitting from great songwriting sensibilities and thought provoking intelligent lyrics. This is really well constructed mature rock music with a progressive edge. For a band whose previous releases were often found lacking, this is a fantastic album. Well worth adding to your collection. 4.5 Stars

It's quite refreshing in this day and age for a band to release an album that's adheres to the time limits (around 40 minutes) from the golden age of vinyl. 'All killer, no filler' used to be the phrase, and High Spy have achieved just that with this album.

From the blistering intro of opening track 'Fade', right until the distant fade (no pun intended) of the last notes of the epic closing track 'Circles & Squares', they fill just under 40 minutes with six songs full of dynamic and powerful music.

And the emphasis here is on the songs. Whereas some (most?) prog tends to be a showcase for virtuosity (aka a need to show off), High Spy perform as a tight unit. Sure, there are some fantastic solos from Mark Price on keyboards and Rich Pointon on guitar (check out the solo on 'Watching'), but the overall feel is of a cohesive band performing for each other to achieve the best results possible.

Influence-wise, there's certainly more than a hint of '80s Rush - especially in the rhythm section - but that's never a bad thing. As well as this, there are elements of The Police at their energetic best mixed in with keyboard textures that evoke the great late '70s/early '8os early synth music of Gary Numan, Ultravox et al. On top of all of this are the wonderfully impassioned vocals of Jeff Henson, who delivers the thought provoking lyrics with great aplomb throughout.

It's great to hear such mature and intelligent rock music still being created in this day and age. High Spy do it brilliantly.

This is a great album. Buy it now.

4.5 Stars

There have been plenty of changes in the High Spy camp since the last album, 2019's 'The Code'. I must confess to not being a fan of that one, thinking it was the worst of the five they had released to that point, and now there are just two people left from that line-up, keyboard player Mark Price (Framework, Final Conflict, Grace) and drummer Tony Hall (Grace). For this album they have brought in bassist Dave Lythgoe (Epilogue) (I remember reviewing their demo 30 years ago!) along with singer Jeff Henson and guitarist Rich Pointon, both from Angry Stars. The recognition of needing to do something different has fired them up, and here we have something which could well have been released back in the 90's, with everyone nicely linked in. Whereas the vocals were something of an issue last time around that is no longer the case with Jeff having a nice style and while he generally sings in the middle register, he is not afraid to go higher when he needs to, and happily holds notes without an issue.

Mark has always been a great keyboard player totally suited to the neo prog genre, happy to provide swathes of chords as a backing, or be much more to the fore with repeated melodies designed to grab attention and be the perfect support to the crunch of the guitar. This is melodic and a load of fun while also incorporating some American rock stylings to make something which is enjoyable and very easy to get into from the very first play. The album is only 40 minutes long, with six songs, and that is just right for this ? it does not outstay the welcome and I can only hope that now they have a new line-up they will not wait too long before releasing the next one. While many other bands from the day have either fallen to the wayside or have progressed their style into something else, High Spy sound as if they have been brought here by a Tardis, as this is so similar to what I was being sent in the early 90's, and is a solid joy throughout.