N'MONIX

Seeing that NICK MAGNUS has just released a new album, "Catharsis", I'm reminded that I never did review this now penultimate issue from 2015. One reason might have been that I initially didn't find it quite up to the standards of its predecessors, particularly "Children of Another God". I still enjoyed it, mind, but apparently all it needed was time on the virtual shelf. "N'Monix" is another success from Magnus, achieved partly through the usual exemplary songwriting and keyboards but also through shrewd curating and assembly of just the right guests for each task. In this case it's particularly the vocalists, no fewer than 5 in the lead role, who must have received extra pay for delivering a unified performance. Of course we also have STEVE HACKETT executing emotionally and technically brimming leads for his long time collaborator, and helping to congeal that wistful and dreamy late 1970s GENESIS and early 1980s HACKETT atmosphere to the many whose cravings never cease, and why should they?

Among the many high points are "Kombat Kid" about a poor guy who ends up literally sucked into the video game to which he has become addicted. It's not in a twilight zone freaky frightening sort of way but still chidingly engineered as commentary; the GENTLE GIANT like "Headcase"; and the classy "Eminent Victorians" which is the first of 3 in succession to offer up trademark Hackettsian expressions. "Broken" is the longest number and the addition of Rob Townsend on both flute and sax only further complements the arrangement. "Entropy" has a bit of an elegiac mood that suits a closing number. No guitar is credited but maybe it's just Magnus engineering his best Hackett impersonation on keys - he's done it before.

Over 4 albums and 2 decades, NICK MAGNUS has almost clandestinely racked up a remarkably consistent canon, to the point where many take him for granted, including, I surmise, some who haven't gotten around to actually listening yet, inferring that he will always be there. N'Monix is another reminder that there is no time like the present.