THE YEARNING

1. "The Wharf That Holds His Vessel" (11:21) a song that feels to me, start to finish, as if I'm listening to a band playing in the orchestra pit for a theatric stage musical; this would/could quite easily pass for an overture! (17.5/20)

2. "Uncertain Lights" (4:05) a very nice opening with very delicate vocal track sung over beautifully picked classical guitars and synth three-way weave. The harmony vocals here are also quite sublime. These musicians are so talented! So skilled! The only song on the album that really puts on display the amazing vocal arrangements so well-developed and exploited in their future songs. Quite mature SIMON & GARFUNKEL-like songwriting. (8.875/10)

3. "Clouds Motion" (7:07) here's the first song that conjures up for me more references to "classic rock" bands like JOURNEY or RUSH. It's also the first song to drop a few of those melt-my-knees gorgeous riffs, chord changes, bridges that the band becomes so adept at with their future albums. A top three song. (13.5/15)

4. "The Rise of White Sun" (4:57) A 1990s sound palette (or one quite like 1978's BABYLON) doesn't totally spoil another heart-felt vocal from Sebastian Vergara. It's comforting to comprehend how much more fluent Seb becomes with the English language (especially it's pronunciation) as well as with creating highly melodic vocals and vocal arrangements in the future. (8.75/10)

5. "The Shrill Voice" (4:59) portends some of the band's extraordinary future music with the unusual quick-mixture of multiple motifs in short spaces of time--and then repeating them throughout the song from time to time. Not Seb's best vocal, the street voice is interesting, but it's the driving motif that follows 1:50 that is, for me, my first real glimmer of the genius of this band: an extended heavy PINK FLOYD-like instrumental passage that sucks one in and entertains with the numerous surprise instrumental and vocal flourishes and nuances. Despite the many out-of-date instrument sounds chosen, this one serves, as another top three song. (8.75/10)

6. "The Scarce Light Birth" (7:34) a near-GENESIS-like ballad format in which we see the capture of some of Sebastian's most seductive vocal melodies yet. My third favorite song. (13.125/15)

7. "Grey" (16:37) almost completely flat and unexciting. (25/30): - i. The Yearning - ii. Unit Land - iii. Path of Gleams

Total Time 56:40

Hearing these songs makes me wonder how much time these musicians spent together (or separately) as theater musicians, as cover band for "classic rock" music like Journey, and how long they worked on these songs. They certainly have a tremendous amount of courage and "maturity" in order to take on these fast-changing, multi-themed, unusually-complex and multi-dimensional songs. The chapter-like/epic storytelling flow of each and every song is quite extraordinary. Unfortunately, the band has not yet mastered its capture of great "earworm" melodies in the way it will in their next albums. Also, the "dated" computer keyboards and poor effects chosen for the drums do affect my enjoyment of the music. Again, I apologize to the band for not getting the songs whose commitment to the words/lyrics/message is paramount: it's your music that I've grown to love; I know not your intended messages!

B/four stars; an excellent debut album from this totally unique theatric symphonic band.

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