Frant1c for Neo-Prog

Any fans of French neo-progressive rock band Nine Skies will be extremely pleased at the news of this spin off - Frant1c is the solo project by Anne-Claire Rallo (Nine Skies, Solace Supplice) brought about following the sad loss of her husband Eric Bouillette (Nine Skies, The Room, etc.) in 2022.

"A Brand New World" is the title of Anne-Claire's debut album and was released on 27th September 2024 with a second album already in the works. The line-up for this first album features familiar names: Alexandre Lamia (Nine Skies, Ingaro), Alexis Bietti (Nine Skies, Genesya), Johnny Marter (Nine Skies, Marillion, Mr. Big, Brian May, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, etc.), Martin Wilson (The Room, Grey Lady Down), Helen Tiron (Sun Q), and John Mitchell (Lonely Robot, Arena, Asia, Frost, etc.), who is responsible for the mixing and mastering. "A Brand New World" is a concept album based around a story of two characters, Charlie and Hope and it was born out of the grief suffered by Anne-Claire following the loss of the late Eric Bouillette (who also appears on the album). One day Charlie wakes up alone in the middle of a completely different and broken world. He goes in search of his soulmate, wondering where he is and what world this is. Throughout his adventures we are invited to reflect on feelings and questions that are universal and personal to all of us.

Anyone who loves Nine Skies (like me) will appreciate the direction Frant1c has taken and many of the songs on the new album have a similar feel to those of Nine Skies - most of the musicians we've seen and heard before with Nine Skies. But this is Anne-Claire Rallo's personal and heart-felt project and she has certainly kept the bar high with her first effort, with hopefully more to came.



https://frant1c.bandcamp.com/album/a-brand-new-world

Chris - Oct 24