LESOIR

Lesoir a band that is slowly climbing the ladder of success by offering modern sounds for their 6th album.

'Push Back the Horizon' is a typical sound from the start, between pop folk and energetic heavy rock, Maartje using her voice on an oriental air before deviating it on that of the Cranberries, aggressive. Tool, Stream of Passion and the flute, all agglomerated; this airy break gives way to Ingo's guitar solo confirming the heavy crossover imprint as the Gathering did so well at the start. 'Under the Stars' continues with this flowing chorus, the synth recalling the keyboards of Apsaras, astonishing. Ambient break on Oceansize, contemplative; the crescendic harmonic approaches Anathema for the invasive finale. 'Fireflies' follows in nervous tempo, Maartje catalyzing the air and flirting with the landmarks of Riverside that they followed in the first part, a sign. Electro dub with an aerial break, cataclysmic at the arrival of the hard riff, like a rogue wave. The resemblance with the Gathering is confirmed. 'You Are the World' changes climate with the crystalline air of the piano, hypnotic by Bob's strike; light air, vocal in echo, a melancholic complaint? of great beauty where the atmosphere of the guitar vibrates with the soaring break; the musical emotion settles before the syncopated finale, Maartje becoming captivating with her expressive flight on the catchy solo. 'The Drawer' ethereal piece, mixture of last generation trip hop of the Gathering, wild riff, softness and violence melted in this musical maelstrom; phrased vocal, melting and explosive; the finale with aggressive Floydian pads, the riff in rising waves.

'Aeon' comes to hit the molehill offering an ambient world instrumental where the flute is put forward; the hypnotic grungy riff is worth its weight showing that they can juggle the tender and the strong, a plus in the progressive world. 'Nadi' starts on a captivating Oceansize; the haunting vocal awakens this melancholic lullaby with an ethereal guitar; the intimate slide guitar solo surprises. 'What Do You Want from Me?' with a hard riff on that of Tool, aggressive then progressive alternative rock; a chopped vocal, an insidious reverberant sound, taking to the throat with the flight of violins. 'As Long as Your Girls Smile' a title that goes everywhere closer to a Corrs for the atmosphere; the saving guitar solo. 'Why I Stand Here Now' for the powerful complaint sound with a solo worthy of a supercharged Gilmour, Ingo has a very promising touch. The finale has everything it takes to capsize the listener in an intoxicating epic solo. 'Babel' (bonus on vinyl) from 2022, for the long ballad bringing nothing more to this almost perfect album; it actually shows the evolution of the band's sound. Originally on progcensor.(4.5).

1. Mosaic shows his admiration for Mostly Autumn with this acoustic title at the beginning featuring Maartje's voice; I also find a bit of the Corrs for the light air and the riff with Magenta connotations, a nice comparison 2. Is This It? continues, a bit of the Cranberries in the intonation, the dark heavy riff, Ingo launches gray notes, sprinkled, a bit of ambient with Ruben's bass introducing an ambient post-rock climate; the Gilmourian guitar in the background, Maartje in echo, the sound evolves pleasantly; the final flight with Bob's molten pads, the oriental atmosphere all that does not leave you unmoved; the dark, grunge, nervous finale, 3. Somebody Like You on a jerky, syncopated air, on a tune that the Gathering could have created, or Anathema with this sensitive, melancholic and touching guitar; 4. The Geese for the nursery rhyme with the vocals in front, a piece with a simple and captivating crescendo, the voice rises, imposing; the rhythm swells, there is emotion in the air, the warm choirs amplify all that in less than 4 minutes

5. Measure of Things and this ethereal voice of the 1001 nights; there are many groups with female voices now, with the singer in front or as an artifice; here it is the fusion of the two, Maartje being able to put herself forward and give free rein to her fellow musicians; The Gathering mixed with ambient and grunge is what I find magnificently put into verve in them

6. Dystopia electric guitar and cascading bass, voice-over, a solo with organ from the time of Pink Floyd and here is this title propelled as its name indicates into a strange universe from which one cannot escape. The chopped drums hang up like an endless wave to keep us in the middle of the canvas; the ambient break forces introspection, contemplation, the guitar solo sends even further assisted by Maartje and her dreamlike voice, flagship title for those who are lost 7. It's Never Quiet goes to the ports of call spice trade; a flute, a medieval, oriental, Celtic folk tune, we are disoriented in front of this typical piece, we are never calm, a beautiful exercise in style to hear the voice rise; the finale again heavy, atmospheric which could become doom if the instruments let loose a little more 8. MXI as an interlude cosmic ballad with melting spleen 9. Two Faces as a happy ending with the piece in two parts which rise and cut by an ambient piano, where the post- rock spirit declares itself at its maximum; the latent flight with the Mono guitar then the aggressive riff of Eleen and Ingo for the apocalyptic but controlled finale, a real quiet force.

Lesoir is great surprise for the new batch of Prog Bands post 2010. Their last album, Mosaic, shows it being a great mix of modern prog with catchy hooks and each song being very distinct from each other. It a bit of Mostly Autumn but with stronger neo-prog elements in the mix.

The vocals are all female, they are beautiful and have some great arrangements and melodies. They are usually accompanied by mellow songs, but the album does take a rocking energy when it's required. You will also find (great) guitar solos in almost all the songs, very melodic and David Gilmour-esque, although a bit drier sounding, which I enjoy a lot. Mixing is also very clear and not too loud, it's more modern than retro though (like Wobbler). The drums use reverb and might annoy some listeners, though.

Highlights: Mosaic, Is This It?, Dystopia, Two Faces (superb ending)

[Originally published at The Progressive Aspect]

"There's no point in just ripping something off, but if you hear something and think 'I like what that guy is doing; I know what I could do with that', it's like having a new colour to paint with, and I think it depends very much on what you do with that colour once you've found it." ? David Bowie

The latest album (their fifth) from Netherlanders Lesoir, Mosaic seemed to take this philosophy and run with it. The cover art is, indeed, a mosaic ? one I find quite beautiful, if perhaps somewhat untraditional ? and the music follows suit. (A mosaic is an artistic picture or design made out of any materials assembled together, in case you were wondering where the small square tiles are.) There are so many different sounds, or colours if you will, across this album, or even within a track, each adding to and embellishing the whole. And while it is often easy to compare some of these sounds to other bands and artists, there's no way you could consider them to be ripped off. If Lesoir have followed Bowie's philosophy, they've definitely done their own thing with any new colours they've found.

There are some comparisons I could make to bands which I doubt the band has ever heard of, which immediately puts into doubt whether anything I hear is actually an influence so much a reflection of what I'm familiar with. This is the greatest reason I don't usually like to make such comparisons in my reviews, but I think it's worth doing so, just to show how contrasting the colours on Lesoir's palette are. For example, the second song, Is This It sounds like the collision of Duran Duran and Faith No More. These two unlikely styles crash against each other gloriously, and this song is easily one of my favourites on the album because of it. And just to add to the mix, there's some surprisingly Balkan sounding folk thrown in too.

I find the album somewhat let down by the third song, Somebody Like You. The album starts with a bang, with the title track (which I find quite reminiscent of Headless Chickens ? one of those bands I'm sure Lesoir have never heard). It's immediately engaging without being too bombastic ? that's saved for the following Is This It. After such a strong beginning, Somebody Like You struggles to stand up to what's come before. That's not to say it's not a good song. Clearly the band think it is as it has been released as a single to promote the album. It's actually a really nice song, which reminds me a little of The Pineapple Thief ? but its placement on the album doesn't really allow it to shine.

If Somebody Like You reminds me a little of The Pineapple Thief, then I guess the following The Geese is reminiscent of that band's former stablemates, Anathema, as the song builds and crescendos in that familiar fashion. It's a far more enjoyable song for me than Somebody Like You, and definitely has the album back on track, and the following, almost Celtic sounding Measure of Things is another fine song ? but it's what comes next that is a real stunner! Dystopia is a tour de force. If I'm going to keep to the Kscope theme, then Nordic Giants definitely come to mind. But what most people will immediately pick up on is the huge Floydian vibe. Dystopia is incredible for this alone, but doesn't stop there. The song switches to Muse and rocks its way out. The spoken word of George Orwell really hammers home the dystopian theme.

How can Lesoir follow this? After having already been a little underwhelmed by Somebody Like You following Is This It, I admit I had reservations the first time I approached It's Never Quiet. They were dispelled very quickly. Like Is This It and Dystopia, this is one of my favourite songs on the album ? possibly my favourite overall. From a beautiful and quiet (it's sometimes quiet) pastoral beginning, this song really feels like the mosaic of the cover art. The flute (last heard to just as great effect in Is This It) is lovely and really makes an impact. This is followed by a rather more jaunty folk sounding passage (as opposed to the more melancholic, but equally effective folk passage in Is This It) and some wordless vocalisations, before powerful singing returns with quite some urgency, and then surprising heaviness. In fact, I think these are probably Maartje Meesen's best vocals on the album.

And yet, and this will sound a little strange after just praising her vocal talents, no matter how beautiful I find Maartje's voice, sometimes it is too dominant. MXI proves a case in point. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to follow It's Never Quiet than this short instrumental piece. I wish it were longer, actually, as it seems to fade out just as it is developing. If it were longer, I think this would even edge its way into my top three favourite tracks from the album. Regardless of length, it works perfectly to come back down from the dizzy heights of the previous song, and if there's one thing this album could have had more of, it is instrumental interludes like this one. It adds another colour, another layer, another texture to the mosaic. Had there been a piece like this after Is This It, for example, it would have given Somebody Like You room to breathe.

That said, Mosaic is a vast improvement over the one Lesoir album I had previously heard (2014's Luctor et Emergo). I bought that album from the cover art, and while I liked it (and still do), it didn't really impress me enough to make any effort to follow the band. I am therefore quite thankful that this latest album came to me for review. Even without having listened to the intervening album, I feel quite sure that this is Lesoir's greatest album so far. The balance between the dominance of Maartje's vocals and the instrumentation is much better on Mosaic than it was on Luctor et Emergo, giving each a chance to shine. The album ends triumphantly with Two Faces, which I'm sure will be a favourite track for many. I've never given ratings before for any of my reviews, but if I did this would be four stars from five, with the expectation that whatever comes next is going to hit that magical five!

I began with a quote from Bowie, but I want to end with a quote from Lesoir: "Our lives are made up of various elements and parts; people, pets, work, our homes. They all have a colour; a shape and they vary in size. It is up to us to make our lives into works of art, using all these parts and elements, to make the complete picture." This has always been true, but perhaps is more so than ever given current global events. Our lives can be changed, perhaps even broken or shattered, by sudden life changes. The novel coronavirus has definitely changed the lives of most of us, leaving us to start over ? with the same pieces, but creating something new. Mosaic, the song and the album, have gained extra meaning and relevance from the time that they are being released. It's an extraordinary album for extraordinary times, which I imagine only sounds more powerful and more colourful live. Hopefully one day, I will be able to find out?

Lesoir gained a lot of attention when they toured supporting Riverside in 2019, and they are now back with their fifth album in ten years. This is a very modern sounding album, due undoubtedly to being able to bring in John Cornfield (Muse, Supergrass, Ben Howard and Robert Plant) and Paul Reeve (vocal producer of Matt Bellamy) as they production team. The quintet have two singers in Maartje Meessen (vocals, piano, flute) and Eleen Bartholomeus (guitar, vocals, synth) which allows for great harmonies and interplay between the two, with the rest of the band being Ingo Dassen (guitar, synth, drum programming), Bob Van Heumen (drums, percussion) and Ruben Heijnsbroek (bass).

Musically this has a very commercial feeling to it, with loads of hooks, and whether it was intentional or not there are definitely some Muse-style moments within it, although never the real wall of sound. They move between crossover prog and neo-prog, melodic rock and even pop, and the result is something which is always moving and interesting to listen to without ever getting deep and meaningful. In some ways it is quite lightweight, but there are also some elements which are really interesting. "Is This It" actually has pop rock hit written all over it, with a hook which demands the listener to sing along to. Pleasant and fun without ever becoming essential.

It's the first time I effectively became aware of this band from Maastricht, although they have recorded their fifth album in the meanwhile. On this occasion lead by the Muse crew related producers John Cornfield and Paul Reeve the fivesome delivers a great new song collection here, by all means. Clappies! And this especially due to formidable arrangements concerning the vocals, which are provided by Maartje Meessen (lead) und Eleën Bartholomeus. Atmosphere paired with dynamics. Catchy pop, or let's say mainstream oriented melodies are given on one hand, though embedded within rather multi-layered prog compositions, which also feature a proper heavy vibe here and there. Just take It's Never Quiet, sound and context fitting as no other. Yeah, I'm convinced.

The title track opens this affair with nice acoustic guitar. Is This It? ... yes, it is ... my favourite excerpt so far. Really exciting how they are blending enchanting and heavy violent moods with each other over and over. Some spacey floydy guitars and male spoken word contributions on Dystopia are serving other impressions. And then lush symphonic appearance regarding The Geese by way of example. Measure Of Things comes overly melancholic including lovely vocals. No glimpse of weakness ... hence this is a recommended album if you're keen on melodic progressive rock. I would say 'Mosaic' is a sophisticated piece of work, makes a lot of fun to listen. Superb effort!