SILENCE

After showing the world just what Jono were capable of with Requiem, the band went on to expand on the same principles while adding more depth and grandiosity to their performance!

While Requiem was an excellent album, I felt that there was too much of a contrast between the faster melodically inclined material, the ballads and symphonic compositions that felt like they were performed by a completely different band. Even though I highly enjoy all sides of the band's repertoire, there was a lack of coherency between them. I am happy to announce that this is not the case with Silence where every single composition feels like it has been performed by the same collective. The album features a clear ambition to unify the many sides of the band, in some cases within one and the same performance.

I have been mesmerized by this band's ability to constantly create high quality melodically driven compositions boosted by equally skilled musicianship. Silence has quite a few of these moments scattered all throughout the album with Wasting Time, Your Bread and The One To Blame being the most obvious examples of instantly recognizable tracks that one just can't stop listening to. But even though these shorter and quirkier compositions manage to build the groundwork for an excellent album, it's actually some of the quiet moments that make this album a true gem for fans of progressively inclined rock music. I'm talking about tracks like magnificent Clear and the seven minute Opus which is a multi-suite in the great tradition of Bohemian Rhapsody. It took me quite a few spins in order to uncover the magic behind these two compositions so don't be impatient if you don't happen to enjoy them at first.

Jono manages to keep their unique sound throughout Silence but there are a few moments that sound as if their influences get the limelight, especially on Turn Around which sounds very influenced by ABBA while In My Life picks at Supertramp and Queen. Overall, these influences don't take away from my experience since the material and the performance make these compositions sound very original in their own right.

I highly recommend Silence to fans of art rock bands like Supertramp, 10cc, A.C.T and Queen. It will be interesting to see if Jono will be able to top this album in the future, especially considering that they have so far never managed to disappoint me with their material!

***** star songs: Wasting Time (2:49) Your Bread (3:38) In My Life (5:00) Clear (4:58) The One To Blame (3:03)

**** star songs: Man Of Misery (3:02) Can We Make It (4:17) Turn Around (4:56) Opus (7:09) Josefina (1:17)