SUNHILLOW

It may not sound very good, but this album came to me completely by accident. Or rather, through the so- called "redirection" experienced by those who wander the Internet in search of things or events that interest them. And that's exactly what happened with the latest release by the Sunhillow group entitled "II". The title somehow anticipates the question about the origins and previous albums of this group. "II" - so this is the second album. The first one (titled Eloise Borealis) appeared in 2020, and the group itself has existed since 2015 and, as you can read, the band plays "melodic prog with pop, ambient and folk elements".

This otherwise sparse information does not encourage you to buy the album itself. But the combination of ambient, folk and progressive music performed by a band from Finland... sounds a bit more interesting, especially for those who agree with the statement that Scandinavian bands can often surprise with their work. And in the case of the Sunhillow band, we are surprised not only by the way they approach music, but also by the large emotional range of the entire album.

The first sounds of the song "The Beast From The East" surprise, in a positive sense of the word, with its melody rooted in the 1970s, in a simple arrangement based on the leading role of the organ, a clear bass line and melodic vocals. The whole song is a song straight out of the 1970s with a modern melody. In addition, the sound of Matti Kervinen's (the band's vocalist) voice is so low-sounding, slightly sloppy with a slight "hoarseness" that we get, overall, a song that could be considered typical of those years. To this combination, we also need to add backing vocals performed by two singers: Hanna Laine and Onerva Oja and... all that remains is to get caught up in the rhythm of the song, which captivates with its song-like simplicity.

The next composition from the album - "The Circus And The Sea" - has a similar character, although here the very beginning indicates a more psychedelic nature of the arrangement. The sputtering organ and the highly emphasized bass guitar line once again create a song rooted in the past. It's a seemingly simple song, but the psychedelic bass progression gives it a unique and addictive sound. It seems that on the one hand it is an unearthed old song from the past, and on the other it is a neat composition played and sung in the style of old recordings of bands such as The Doors, The Stranglers and similar.

And it would seem that this way of playing would dominate on the album if it weren't for the track number three - "Circus Outro". There are no words, no singing. It is a beautiful instrumental piece for violin and organ. Three minutes of longing, some sadness and a heartwarming melody. And everything, again, as if taken straight from the past. All the sounds are known, and yet their combination creates a perfect composition for late evenings.

And again, the "steady" bass with drums and the psychedelic organ determine the character of the next instrumental composition from the album - the song "Meanwhile In Between Tides". This song should appeal to all fans of psychedelic music with elements of jazz-rock improvisation. And again, all the sounds are somehow familiar, but the sobbing solo guitar crossing its solo march with the deep sound of the organ is captivating. And the surprising end with the words: "(...) This is your joyride" gives the whole thing a slightly cosmic dimension and a psychedelic high, but on the other hand, doesn't the bass sound just like The Doors?

"Gonna Get Better" is a song when you look at it. Full of perverse and at the same time puzzling words - " It is gonna get better, if you have a time, when you loosing your life and you get nothing , nothing to hide?". Perhaps the loss of everything is the beginning of something new. And I would like to mention the famous song from the movie "Life of Brian" - "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life". Additional flavor is added by the choirs, the slightly Niemen-like melody of the beginning and the guitar solo in the middle part, "ripped" from the 1960s. It's a very short album.

Just over thirty minutes with the final instrumental composition entitled "Afternoon Tune". Like "Circus Outro" it is a very emotional song. Melancholic violin, organ playing somewhere in the background. This is a very spacious, even landscape-like end to the album. It goes on like a journey through a huge meadow somewhere in endless space. A hike in changing weather, which is created by a slightly folk and dreamy arrangement in the song.

If I say that this is a very "non-obvious" album, will it surprise you? At first glance, it is a "conglomeration" of different compositions, as if they were created in different places, created by different artists. Folk-psychedelic-rock songs, dreamy-landscape instrumental songs, slightly ironic compositions about the fact that only when you have nothing, when everything is gone, can things get better. And maybe this planned "mixing" lies in the strength of this release. I used the word "planned" because it seems to me that, despite the apparent musical chaos, the whole thing is strongly based on a psychedelic background related to the sound taken from the 1960s and 1970s. Without a hard rock edge, but with full respect for melodic psychedelia. If you don't already have a shelf marked "non- obvious music" in your collection, this CD will be a great start to such a collection.

The band consists of: Matti Kervinen (vocals, keyboards), Jouko Hoytamo (drums), Ilpo Komulainen (bass), Markus Vaisanen (guitar), Pekka Hakkarainen (guitar) and Elisa Heikkinen (violin). The album titled "II" was released at the beginning of February this year.

This Finnish act led by keyboardist, vocalist and the main composer Matti Kervinen debuted in 2020, and finally the second album has been released. For starters, it's rather disappointing to see that the album length is only about 30 minutes, and that the violin of Elisa Heikkinen is narrowed down to only two tracks out of six. It was precisely the feature I liked so much on Aurora Borealis and what distinguishes Sunhillow from Kervinen's preceding band Pax Romana or his other projects.

This melancholic album is beautiful nevertheless. The opening song 'The Beast from the East' is a fine piece of pop-sensible prog, up to the strong chorus and Markus Väisänen's guitar solo. The lyrics contain the line "where's that simple human kindness" taken from the classic album Nuclear Nightclub which started WIGWAM's "deep pop" era in 1975. The newer Wigwam, especially the last albums from the 90's and 00's (Kervinen himself has worked on some of them), indeed are a central reference. 'The Circus and the Sea' is fairly good too. Three songs feature backing vocals of Jari Loisa who passed away during the album making and whom this album is dedicated to.

Instrumental 'Circus Outro' as a keys and violin duet is truly beautiful in its sadness. 'Meanwhile Between the Tides' is a longer instrumental (and the only track over six minutes) dedicated to the keyboard wizard Esa Kotilainen. These two deaths of dear colleagues and friends have understandably affected deeply to the album process. However, this fairly proggy piece is not melancholic. It has great Moog parts but in its jam-like spirit I'd compare it to DAVID GILMOUR's solo albums, as well as the closing instrumental 'Afternoon Tune' for the Gilmouresque guitar work of Pekka Hakkarainen. This is the other piece featuring the violin and an obvious highlight. The sincere little comfort song 'Gonna Get Better' in between the instrumentals makes me think of Lou Reed, of all artists, but that's mainly because of Kervinen's vocal style in it. The musical backing is of course more prog oriented than Reed's.

There is impressive sad serenity on this brief album. In my opinion the debut is a bit more rewarding, hence I'll round my 3½ stars downwards. Most of all I really miss more violin contribution here. But yes, definitely this is a beautiful and recommendable album of accessible, melodic Crossover Prog, and you'll surely like it if you have enjoyed Kervinen's bands.

In the spring of 2016 I saw the debut gig of SUNHILLOW in Helsinki. It was one of those warm-spirited domestic prog gigs I remember with fondness. The debut album of this Finnish group replacing PAX ROMANA (three Sunhillow members out of five played in that preceding band) was also to be expected to come out sooner or later. Well, it turned out to be later indeed, but as they say, better late than never! Those familiar with Pax Romana will easily recognize the relation from the melodic, slightly PINK FLOYD flavoured music, and of course from Matti Kervinen's vocals. His warm voice is perhaps comparable to Mark Knopfler's, but more capable of carrying emotions. As I know that the band name surely makes you think of Jon Anderson's album Olias of Sunhillow, maybe I should underline that the reference is not to be taken very literally, as a hint for the music's style. (Anyway, at least Kervinen is a big Yes fan and therefore undoubtedly fond of Jon's album as well.) This is melodic and easily accessible Crossover Prog. The atmosphere is way more important than complexity.

The brief, ambientish instrumental 'Intro' is followed by the title track that closely follows the song style of Pax Romana, but also contains the special feature to make Sunhillow distinctive from its precedessor, ie. the violin of Elisa Heikkinen. It's a crucial part of Sunhillow's mellow sound. More than bringing a rustic folk flavour or reminding of violin-heavy prog bands such as Kansas and Curved Air, the violin most of all makes me remember how I was impressed by Ben Mink's electric violin solo in the Rush song 'Losing It' (on Signals album) in my early teens. Ever since that I've been fond of violin in a prog context, and on this album the instrument really sounds lovely. 'No New Words' begins very calmly with tender violin melodies in the centre, and puts on a faster gear in the midway. The finale after the delicious instrumental movement gets very cathartic (with Elisa's voice in the choir), reminding me of the deep pop era WIGWAM at its best. The pop and folk nuances are most notable on 'Beyond the Dreams' which grows beyond its slightly mediocre first impression as a song.

'Out There' is a serene, beautiful song reminiscent of DAVID GILMOUR's On an Island album, and it's the other track in which Elisa's backing vocals are best heard. It would have been interesting to hear how she would have sounded as a lead vocalist. Among highlights is definitely 'For a Moment', the longest track at 8:38. The final track is a moody instrumental full of ambience. Throughout the shortish (37-minute) album the vocal oriented, more or less pop-sensible approach intertwines harmonically with instrumentalism. If you like mellow, accessible prog with some folkish elements and an introspective ambience, Sunhillow is warmly recommended.