TY I JA

For 30 years, CAROL OF HARVEST's sole album was regarded by many as a prog folk classic, all the more remarkable for overcoming a passe style even then. The spare and raw arrangements and the assured vocals of Beate Krause rose to the occasion for one glorious moment in time. So when an apparent solo album, under the original moniker, by guitarist Axel Schmierer emerged in 2009, accompanied only by a new young songstress Ewa Grams from Poland, I was a drooling skeptic. I listened once, maybe twice, and concluded that it was not at all worthy of the band's legacy, and shelved it until 2023 when I decided to start looking at comeback projects of this sort, mostly from the non Anglo world. I really thought this to be an open and shut FAST case but it has remained on rotation for several days and, while I still maintain that it lacks the luminescence of earlier vintage, it's actually an admirable effort in the realm of ambient pop with folk and prog accents. And yes, while Ewa might not have the Beate, she certainly won't be triggering calls to a gaffer any time soon.

Apart from a few guest lead guitar solo parts, Axel plays all instruments, many synthesized to sound like brass, but the flute on "Druga Szansa" is so convincing that I wonder if a credit was missed. Most tracks thankfully have little percussion, and a few subtle acoustic guitar touches glance over the atmospheric arrangements. The Polish vocals are actually caressing and the melodies often cycling and mesmerizing. A couple of numbers are more energetic without corrupting the mood. Axel sings on the appealing "In Between" and the rather silly "Lucky", which is PhD level compared to his narrated philosophy on "Zostane Tu", which nonetheless subsequently morphs into one of the more musically ambitious cuts, along with the title track. While none especially stands out, and a few are frankly banal, for the most part "Ty I Ja" gets a thumbs up, and suggests that not attempting to recapture the original magic with no other original band members was an inspired choice that more of this vintage should make.