MEN SINGING

4.5 stars. I was such a big fan of HENRY FOOL's debut album, but to be honest I felt that after all of these years this was one of those "one and done" projects. Thankfully I was wrong. So 12 years later the boys are back with almost the same lineup. Fudge Smith has been replaced on drums by the very capable Andrew Booker, plus we get I MONSTER's Jarrod Gosling adding mellotron, while ROXY MUSIC's Phil Manzanera adds guitar on two of the four tracks. I should mention that Jarrod also mixed this recording while Stephen Bennett and Tim Bowness produced and arranged it. The music here is similar to the debut as we get that dreamy, atmospheric mood much of the time with those jazzy excursions helped by Myke Clifford's sax. The differences are for one that this is an all-instrumental album this time with NO-MAN's Tim Bowness sticking to his guitar work, plus the tracks are much longer when compared to the debut.

"Everyone In Sweden" is the almost 14 minute opener. Man every note seems to be carefully thought out as I listen to the intricate sounds that come and go. The bass is prominant as are the keyboards early on. Love when it turns more dynamic 2 minutes in and especially the sax that follows. A calm after 4 minutes with deep sounds and spacey keys then it kicks back in. Nice ! It settles back again with sax coming in then another calm before 7 minutes as it turns spacey and atmospheric.Some cool sounding sax 9 minutes in as the dreamy mood continues. Guitar and flute before 11 minutes as the song continues to drift along. It ends with electronics. "Man Singing" opens in a relaxed manner with flute and a beat with spacey keys and inventive guitar sounds from Manzanera. Mellotron joins in as well. Yeah this sounds really good. It's building but thankfully the same soundscape continues. So good. Check out the mellotron before 5 minutes and the flute that follows. It calms right down to end it with sounds that echo bringing PORCUPINE TREE to mind.

"My Favourite Zombie Dream" is my favourite. I adore the sound here with those distorted deep bass sounds and the mellotron waves flowing beautifully across the spacey soundscape. I'd love to have this dream. Oh man ! Check out the guitar from Bowness 3 1/2 minutes in. Some nice drum work follows. "Chic Hippo" is the over 13 minute closer. Stephen Bennett is credited with playing Miles Davis and Terry Riley impressions on his keyboards and Steve Bingham adds violin on this track. Great start with the upfront bass, a beat, mellotron and spacey sound as the violin joins in. A calm 2 minutes in as bass and drums only lead then the sax joins in with some distortion coming from somewhere else. The tempo picks up some as mellotron choirs kick in. It's brighter before 4 1/2 minutes as sounds echo in the background. Lots of electronics here too. I feel like i'm in this loop that won't quit and I don't want it to stop either. Things change some before 7 minutes and I really like the distorted guitar after 9 minutes that comes and goes the rest of the way along with the sax.

Without question this will be near the top of my list of favourite albums for 2013. I've read so many glowing reviews for this one and you can add mine to the list.