WATCHING WORLDS COLLIDE

An incredibly ingenious album.

A little while ago, I became aware of the album "Watching Worlds Collide" due to a conspicuously large number of positive reviews. This is the second album of the French progressive rock project led by the talented multi- instrumentalist Aurélien Goude. I would like to share my excitement about this music with all of you today. Let's start first with the most striking feature: Progressive rock meets jazz.

"Esthesis" features complex song structures embedded in very tasteful jazz harmonies. These, in turn, repeatedly counter with rocky, metallic and even film-musical parts. My goodness, what ingenious symbiosis, which by no means simply mixes everything wildly, but quite deliberately combines and merges. Aurélien Goude creates very strong moods, takes his time to let the music unfold within a song and always acts in a focused way, letting any musical elements (such as saxophone, trumpet, violin and even bajos played by guest musicians) show their full effect.

Also the other musicians of the band, Baptiste Desmares on lead guitar, Marc Anguill on bass and Arnaud Nicolau on drums, do a great job of balancing the songs on a high rhythmic as well as melodic level. Probably the best decision in the lineup lies in the choice of guest vocalist Mathilde Collet. She sets her accents at exactly the right moments and her timbre also fits the basic mood of the album perfectly.

Songs like "Place Your Bets", "Wandering Cloud" and especially the long track "57th Street" (what an incredible track!) contain so many ideas, twists and surprises, so that you are still amazed after several runs through what you get to hear. This is not least due to the transparent and powerful production.

I don't know any band that combines two demanding genres so skillfully and elegantly, always with the claim to maintain the tension in the listener from beginning to end. I was completely electrified after the first listen. "Esthesis" won the Prog Magazine Reader's Poll in the "BEST UNSIGNED BAND" category in December 2020. Personally, I think the band should win the "ALBUM OF THE YEAR" category this year. A masterpiece that needs to get much more attention....

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