YOU GO NOW

I was quite ignorant with any development that Kevin Moore made after leaving Dream Theater only that I purchased two albums of OSI (Office of Strategic Intelligence). When I got this "You Go Now" album by Chroma Key I could easily associate the similarity of the music with those OSI albums especially on the spacey ambient style of the music. The first time I listened to this album, it did not quite impress me because it sounded like a collection of repeated chords and notes. On a second spin, I dig out the music deeply and I could sense the beauty of this album. And I know why I was not quite impressed with the first spin because the fact that the music uses loop sampling as rhythms section with Kevin Moore looks after most of the instruments: keyboards and bass in addition to his vocal role.

The music is I believe very accessible to many people and necessarily having prog ears. The ambient spacey style brings forward good nuance to capitalize the music for other purposes, not just listening to it. It's just like you are listening Pink Floyd, or Porcupine Tree where you can direct your mind and thoughts to explore your thinking boundaries. It's best played during the night after 10 PM in order to get a full benefit of the music. The first two opening tracks "Get back in the car" (5:05) and "Another permanent address" (5:05) are good indication on what the music sound like from the entire album. The keyboard work sounds peculiar Kevin Moore's style providing all the nuances in spacey style. The third track "Nice to know" (4:31) might give you an impression of Floydian style especially on singing style and keyboard rhythm section.

"Lunar" (3:14) brings forward nice combination of percussion loop with keyboard work overlaid by distance voice style with nice narration. It's an enjoyable track for me personally as I like the keyboard work. On the next track "When you drive" (5:27) the band continues the narrative style. It might sound boring as the chords and notes are quite repetitive in nature. If you like something with various and sudden changes, this kind of music is not suitable for you. It continues in similar vein into next track "Subway" (4:37) where this time Kevin adds some effects to improve the textures. The concluding track which is also the album title still maintains the ambient style with soft piano touch in slow tempo. It sounds like a music for original soundtrack - reminds me to Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire".

Overall, the music of this album is good and suitable for those who love spacey ambient style. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW