NEMESIS

A refreshing smorgasbord of musical styles delivered by TOUCHSTONE veteran Rob Cottingham and his loyal crew of guitarist James Hards, bass/guitarist Paul Stocker, and drummer extraordinaire Graham Brown. The band's second album (their previous effort, Say, was released in 2016) introduces the rock-solid voice of newcomer Sarah Bayley: truly a talent to be praised and watched for future contributions.

1. "Asleep at the Wheel" (7:46) one of the more refreshingly-creative songs I've heard this year: the instrumental and stylistic palettes used are brilliantly blended, the rhythmic flow highly unusual and intriguing, even the song construct is odd and surprising, but my favorite element of the song is the incredibly-nuanced doubling of the lead male vocal with a perfectly-mirrored female just behind him. It took the few moments where each vocalist sang in solo isolation for me to verify what my brain kept telling me: "There's a woman's voice singing just behind the lead male!" I can't remember when I've ever heard this feature accomplished with such effect. (Answer: THE REASONING.) Then there's the (quite unexpected) heaviness blended with a rather SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES-like sound and style (especially evident in Sarah Bayley's androgynously lower register croon). And then there's keyboardist Rob Cottingham's amazing synth solo in the sixth minute! And did I mention the totally unexpected finish? Don't get me wrong: there are weaknesses in this song--and some choices I don't quite understand or agree with--but I LOVE the creative innovativity coming through with this song. Definitely my favorite song on the album. (14.5/15)

2. "Trip Wire" (6:13) Now I get the "Crossover" designation. These artists are chameleons! A heavy prog guitar chord progression and rockin' rhythm track power this one from the start so that Sarah Bayley's lead power vocal has firm ground on which to fly. Some Pat Benatar similarities here. The instrumental fourth minute is my favorite because of the drum play, Sarah's instrumental vocalise, the playful 1980s synth play, and lead guitar work. But then it kind of goes BON JOVI on us until the rhythm section reminds us that this is Sarah's song: we stop, restart with some spacey layers of synth play before the percussion and angular guitar chords join in--but, surprise! We never get to hear Sarah sing again! (8.875/10)

3. "Glow" (3:25) a very sparsely populated song in which I hear quite some similarities to Heather Findlay's voice as well as the MOSTLY AUTUMN approach to song creation. Very pretty little pastoral 1:40 until the blues-rock power chords and screaming lead guitar and synths take over. I'm glad she comes back to sing at the finish of this one. (8.875/10)

4. "Rogue" (5:47) I hear quite a bit of the fragility and un-Western sense of melody of early Sugarcubes-era BJÖRK in Sarah's voice here over the fairly standard pop musical construct. This time it's vocalist Rob Cottingham mirror- backing Sarah. At we switch into a very DAVID GILMOUR-sounding section--complete with Rob's doppleganger vocal performance. Not a great song (despite great drumming and fun synth play in the instrumental section), but I sure love Björk! (8.75/10)

5. "The Love" (5:21) despite opening with a syrupy electric piano solo, this one turns into another synthed-up blues- rock sound palette in which Sarah Bayley's voice sings with the clear diction and style of Mostly Autumn's Heather Findlay. (8.66667/10)

6. "New Beauty" (7:36) opening with an intriguing palette of heavily-reverbed slowly-picked electric guitar the song creates quite an engaging Floydian spaciousness--something that is then augmented by an equally spacious electric piano, performing in a lower register, supporting the guitar. The song takes almost a full 90-seconds in this mode before it begins to reveal its true form and style (which reminds me a lot of shooting star band THE REASONING from 2005-2015. Even the vocal styling is Rachel (Jones) Cohen-like!) Though nothing too exciting or innovative, there's just something very likable and engaging about this one, start to finish--kind of like a MOSTLY AUTUUMN or MANTRA VEGA song. I like htis one for my final top three song. (13.5/15)

7. "Deja Vu" (3:20) Drum machine! Vangelis Blade Runner synth lead! Great melodic hooks--on two levels. NO-MAN-like Tim Bowness vocals (with that magical female voice mirroring as if just behind the lead male)! Not a big fan of the ALEX LIFESON power chords, but, heck! You can't have everything. The result: Another top three song. (9/10)

8. "Jumping on the Moon" (5:35) pure synth pop--something that could have come from a SIMPLE MINDS / PETE SHELLEY imitator. (8.5/10)

9. "Save the Earth" (4:14) sustained synth drone note with repeating radio-voice samples and industrial sounds and effects open this one. In the second minute synth strings begin tracing out a melodic path and then rhythm guitar begins to add its muted low-end duads and triads. The spacious dance continues just as this until its startling (and sad) end with its four implosive booms and gong. (9/10)

10. "Nemesis" (8:32) perhaps a little too sedate, saccharine, and 1980s conservative (as well as derivative), this song, fronted by solo Rob Cottingham, may, in fact, have been one of Rob's older songs created and recorded before/after/without Sarah Bayley's input (despite the fact that she still plays a significant part of this with her angelic background vocals behind and with Rob's leads) because Rob's vocal is very much the lead force here. A very pleasant, pretty song, but nothing like the album's incredibly courageous opener (despite the wonderful little keyboard ditty in the final 35 seconds that is used to close it). (17.4/20)

Total Time 57:49

Did I mention how much I enjoy Rob Cottingham's RICHARD WRIGHT-like keyboard sensibilities: his solos and overall sound choices are at the top of my list of favorites for 2023! Very impressive!

A near-masterpiece of wonderfully refreshing and rather diverse progressive rock music--something every prog lover should at least try. As Thomas said in his review above, the world should take notice of newcomer Sarah Bayley; she is a force to be reckoned with!