A DOORWAY TO SUMMER

Having recognized the album cover to their 2008 sophomore follow-up to this one, Blomljud (currently the 44th highest rated on the site for Symphonic Prog), since what feels like forever, I was looking forward to digging in. And to know that they're from Sweden, my interest can only grow (it's impossible to make "Swedish supremacy" sound unproblematic haha). Featuring once-Flower King Tomas Bodin on keys and synths and co-production, yet another tick for my personal interest in Moon Safari.

Highly melodic and sweet throughout, "Doorway" opens up the album. Nice vocals (reminiscent to British contemporaries Haken's Ross Jennings), and a lovely mix. A beautiful track that even at its softest has a lot to offer musically. It is on this track, around minute 4, that Bodin's feature first(?) resides, providing a beautiful Moog solo (is he also responsible for the melodica here as well?). Very tasteful. What I assume to also be his solo is at the end: phenomenal. Throughout is also some great organ. Another solo, this time guitar, is sweet and light and melodic. Indeed will appeal to fans of "New Prog", in bands like The Flower Kings, Big Big Train or Echolyn. It is the wonderful vocals toward the end that are a great highlight to this track. Classic and complex. This is all right up my alley.

"Dance Across the Ocean" opens with synth lead very comparable to the Styx classic "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" [Or is it "Sing For The Day"?]! Sprawling and big. Once again, I must mention the mix: I love the wall-to-wall production style. And just like Styx, vocals are high priority for Moon Safari. It is evident, and I'm very for it. An epic-sounding, very classic Prog feel. Again, all for it.

Soft and sweet, "A Sun of Your Own" begins. Again, their sonic choices are so satisfactory for me: a classic symphonic Prog fan and a maximalist through and through, sometimes it's hard to feel truly pleased. This song is perhaps a little poppy? Hard to place, though I've been a more recent fan of Power Pop darlings Jellyfish (don't sleep on them, if you're fans of XTC, Queen, The Beatles, etc.) and specifically, I hear similarities here to Jason Falkner. Overall, somewhat static compared to what came before. Still a solid track in its own right.

Then the 25-minute epic, "We Spin the World": and indeed, even in its first 3 minutes, epic indeed! So many emotions and feelings here, and, by then, not even a word had been spoken. I'm just very impressed with this band. Compositional excellence aplenty. On this note, it's impressive that they kept this epic upbeat for the wide majority of it, not needing to 'space out' to cause/will interest to occur. Starting around minute 5 is a not-so-favorite part, but then it... does get better! I can't even place what it is I didn't like, especially as the piece moved and it got more comfortable: specifically around the triumph of minute 8, which is also interesting enough, to say the least [Sorry this is one of those moments where my writing style may cause some pause in reading]. One of the most impressive moments is around 13:40, with Beach Boys-esque a capella loveliness. Again, the vocals are some of the best elements of Moon Safari, and that's saying a lot: they're good all 'round. And finally, nothing to say about "Beyond the Door" but 'purty'.

Clearly a concept of sorts, in the least, through to the end, just a very sweet and optimistic album. Very whole, it is a more than solid debut.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0