Days Between Stations-New Album "In Extremis"

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   After a five year wait, I just discovered that the new album from Days Between Stations will be released on May 15th. For me this will be a much anticipated album after their eponymous debut was so full of promise.

The album, entitled In Extremis features a number of guest musicians, such as Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin, Rick Wakeman, the late Tony Banks and Colin Moulding.

Interestingly, the artwork for the album was done by Paul Whitehead, who did the artwork for some of the classic early Genesis albums such as Foxtrot, Trespass and also Pawn Hearts by Van Der Graaf Generator.

Here's a snippet from the forthcoming press release:

Although,
 Days Between Stations 'In Extremis' in some ways retains the dark 
somber mood of the group's first album (released to great acclaim
in 2007), in other ways the music is completely different. Says Sepand, 
“There are four clear distinctions between the two albums. The first, is
 that we are five years older. Which means we have grown as players and 
have higher expectations of ourselves. The
second, which is most noticeable is that we have vocals (with lyrics) on
 this album. The debut album provides landscapes and layers of sound 
that allow the imagination to run free. One negative aspect of having 
vocals is that the mind mainly focuses on the
rhythm and lyrical content and often times constrains the music. We 
wanted a healthy marriage between the two. Even so, there are several 
instrumental tracks on this album, one in particular is 'Blackfoot'.” 
Oscar continues, “It wasn't really a conscious decision
to add vocals to this one – I mean vocals with lyrics. It's just how the
 writing went. Sometimes a song tells you what it needs. So that's 
different. Also, the album is more thoroughly composed or let's say it's
 more structurally thought out. Although Sepand
and I entirely wrote the music, the lyrics were written collaboratively 
with Billy Sherwood, who was invaluable in bringing more focus to the 
whole theme, and who in some cases took the idea in a different 
direction.” 

Sepand
 concludes, “I feel the third difference on the new album is the 
extensive use of classical and exotic instruments; a full orchestra was
employed on the first track, 'No Cause For Alarm', an instrumental 
overture that weaves together many of the main themes from the album. 
While the track 'Waltz In E Minor' is performed by a string quartet, the
 full orchestra returns (along with an unexpected
Barbershop quartet) on the closer, 'In Extremis', a 21-plus minute 
multi-part epic that also features founding YES guitarist Peter Banks. 
Additionally, a Persian lute called a Tar is featured on the track 
'Eggshell Man', a song that also features a blistering
Moog solo from YES maestro Rick Wakeman. In fact, on 'Eggshell Man' Rick
 Wakeman, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks play together. This brings me 
to my final point; when all these legends came together to contribute on
 this album, we developed a certain obsession
to be at our best. Sadly Peter Banks passed away during the making of 
'In Extremis', making these recordings even more meaningful and special 
to us.”

And here's the album's first review by Nick DeRiso:

In a strange and beautiful coincidence, Days Between Stations was 
working on an album about birth, life and death with Peter Banks in the 
time just before Yes’ co-founding guitarist passed. But the truth is, In Extremis would have been a triumph, anyway — and a curt rebuke to those who say the best days of progressive rock are behind it.
Working primarily again in an instrumental format, keyboardist Oscar 
Fuentes and guitarist Sepand Samzadeh (who founded Days Between Stations
 in 2003) paint a stirring, deeply impactful narrative, using broad 
musical strokes that connect across prog, ambient and orchestral 
traditions. The results are, at times, memorably beautiful, at others 
unbearably sad — like a life lived fully. 
The difference between In Extremis (to be available for 
pre-order beginning on April 23, 2013) and Days Between Stations’ 
well-received 2007 debut is a greater focus on lyrical content, courtesy
 of a writing and vocal assist from guest Billy Sherwood. That serves to
 ground the emotional In Extremis within the tangible world of love and loss. A member of Yes in the 1990s,
 Sherwood makes a dramatic first appearance, after the album’s lengthy 
instrumental introduction, with “Visionary” — which also features a 
layered, virtuoso performance on the stick by Tony Levin, the do-anything performer who has worked with Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, King Crimson and John Lennon, among countless others. 
Days Between Stations, named after Steve Erickson’s cult novel, 
expands to include Sherwood’s fellow Yes alumni Rick Wakeman and Banks, 
on “Eggshell Man” — a song whose brilliantly twilit chorus of “so alone,
 so alone” is offset by a sweetly plangent lute. Meanwhile, former XTC stalwart Colin Moulding
 is featured on the hooky “The Man Who Died Two Times,” an utterly 
addictive pop-prog moment that rivals anything issued by Genesis, the 
Moody Blues or Yes in their 1980s hitmaking period.The album’s heart-breaking emotional centerpoint, though, is its 
multi-suite title track, which expands to more than 21 minutes behind 
some of the final musical statements from Banks, a deeply underrated 
early progressive-rock architect. He recaptures, across this stirring 
track, everything promised on Days Between Station’s thrillingly 
old-school cover — created by Paul Whitehead, who earlier handled the 
artwork for Genesis’ Trespass, Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot projects. 
In keeping, “In Extremis,” like the album it’s named after, evolves 
into an elaborate musical set piece of the first order, a throwback in 
the very best of ways, a fitting example of Banks’ still-resonant craft —
 and the perfect ending to a project that aspires to a level of 
inspirational wonder that was once thought lost. 
I'm pleased to have purchased the first ever copy of this CD! Just waiting for it to be delivered now. 

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Takeshi Kovacs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: September 27 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2454	Topic: Days Between Stations-New Album "In Extremis" Posted: April 19 2013 at 05:03
	After a five year wait, I just discovered that the new album from Days Between Stations will be released on May 15th. For me this will be a much anticipated album after their eponymous debut was so full of promise. The album, entitled In Extremis features a number of guest musicians, such as Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin, Rick Wakeman, the late Tony Banks and Colin Moulding. Interestingly, the artwork for the album was done by Paul Whitehead, who did the artwork for some of the classic early Genesis albums such as Foxtrot, Trespass and also Pawn Hearts by Van Der Graaf Generator. Here's a snippet from the forthcoming press release: Although, Days Between Stations 'In Extremis' in some ways retains the dark somber mood of the group's first album (released to great acclaim in 2007), in other ways the music is completely different. Says Sepand, “There are four clear distinctions between the two albums. The first, is that we are five years older. Which means we have grown as players and have higher expectations of ourselves. The second, which is most noticeable is that we have vocals (with lyrics) on this album. The debut album provides landscapes and layers of sound that allow the imagination to run free. One negative aspect of having vocals is that the mind mainly focuses on the rhythm and lyrical content and often times constrains the music. We wanted a healthy marriage between the two. Even so, there are several instrumental tracks on this album, one in particular is 'Blackfoot'.” Oscar continues, “It wasn't really a conscious decision to add vocals to this one – I mean vocals with lyrics. It's just how the writing went. Sometimes a song tells you what it needs. So that's different. Also, the album is more thoroughly composed or let's say it's more structurally thought out. Although Sepand and I entirely wrote the music, the lyrics were written collaboratively with Billy Sherwood, who was invaluable in bringing more focus to the whole theme, and who in some cases took the idea in a different direction.” Sepand concludes, “I feel the third difference on the new album is the extensive use of classical and exotic instruments; a full orchestra was employed on the first track, 'No Cause For Alarm', an instrumental overture that weaves together many of the main themes from the album. While the track 'Waltz In E Minor' is performed by a string quartet, the full orchestra returns (along with an unexpected Barbershop quartet) on the closer, 'In Extremis', a 21-plus minute multi-part epic that also features founding YES guitarist Peter Banks. Additionally, a Persian lute called a Tar is featured on the track 'Eggshell Man', a song that also features a blistering Moog solo from YES maestro Rick Wakeman. In fact, on 'Eggshell Man' Rick Wakeman, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks play together. This brings me to my final point; when all these legends came together to contribute on this album, we developed a certain obsession to be at our best. Sadly Peter Banks passed away during the making of 'In Extremis', making these recordings even more meaningful and special to us.” And here's the album's first review by Nick DeRiso: In a strange and beautiful coincidence, Days Between Stations was working on an album about birth, life and death with Peter Banks in the time just before Yes’ co-founding guitarist passed. But the truth is, In Extremis would have been a triumph, anyway — and a curt rebuke to those who say the best days of progressive rock are behind it. Working primarily again in an instrumental format, keyboardist Oscar Fuentes and guitarist Sepand Samzadeh (who founded Days Between Stations in 2003) paint a stirring, deeply impactful narrative, using broad musical strokes that connect across prog, ambient and orchestral traditions. The results are, at times, memorably beautiful, at others unbearably sad — like a life lived fully. The difference between In Extremis (to be available for pre-order beginning on April 23, 2013) and Days Between Stations’ well-received 2007 debut is a greater focus on lyrical content, courtesy of a writing and vocal assist from guest Billy Sherwood. That serves to ground the emotional In Extremis within the tangible world of love and loss. A member of Yes in the 1990s, Sherwood makes a dramatic first appearance, after the album’s lengthy instrumental introduction, with “Visionary” — which also features a layered, virtuoso performance on the stick by Tony Levin, the do-anything performer who has worked with Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, King Crimson and John Lennon, among countless others. Days Between Stations, named after Steve Erickson’s cult novel, expands to include Sherwood’s fellow Yes alumni Rick Wakeman and Banks, on “Eggshell Man” — a song whose brilliantly twilit chorus of “so alone, so alone” is offset by a sweetly plangent lute. Meanwhile, former XTC stalwart Colin Moulding is featured on the hooky “The Man Who Died Two Times,” an utterly addictive pop-prog moment that rivals anything issued by Genesis, the Moody Blues or Yes in their 1980s hitmaking period. The album’s heart-breaking emotional centerpoint, though, is its multi-suite title track, which expands to more than 21 minutes behind some of the final musical statements from Banks, a deeply underrated early progressive-rock architect. He recaptures, across this stirring track, everything promised on Days Between Station’s thrillingly old-school cover — created by Paul Whitehead, who earlier handled the artwork for Genesis’ Trespass, Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot projects. In keeping, “In Extremis,” like the album it’s named after, evolves into an elaborate musical set piece of the first order, a throwback in the very best of ways, a fitting example of Banks’ still-resonant craft — and the perfect ending to a project that aspires to a level of inspirational wonder that was once thought lost. I'm pleased to have purchased the first ever copy of this CD! Just waiting for it to be delivered now.
	Open the gates of the city wide.... Check out my music taste: http://www.last.fm/user/TakeshiKovacs/

Takeshi Kovacs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: September 27 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2454	Posted: April 19 2013 at 08:50
	For those interested in buying this album, payment should be sent to PayPal account [email protected] $15USD includes shipping.
	Open the gates of the city wide.... Check out my music taste: http://www.last.fm/user/TakeshiKovacs/

PhideauxFan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 14 2007 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 4579	Posted: April 24 2013 at 02:58
	http://daysbetweenstations.com/album/2013-in-extremis/

progbethyname Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: July 30 2012 Location: HiFi Headmania Status: Offline Points: 7859	Posted: April 24 2013 at 13:07
	Great album cover!! Whitehead strikes again!!!
	Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣

PhideauxFan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 14 2007 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 4579	Posted: April 28 2013 at 02:41


PhideauxFan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 14 2007 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 4579	Posted: May 19 2013 at 08:21
	I received the In Extremis CD yesterday and I've already listened to it 3 times. It is so good ! Now number 2 in my top albums 2013 (first Steven Wilson).

PhideauxFan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 14 2007 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 4579	Posted: May 31 2013 at 02:43
	The intro of In Extremis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hN6uu3sAMQ4