THE GOLDFISH

Someone should tell BERNARD OUELLET that he missed a release in 2014, given that the other 3 from his project KAOS MOON were issued in 1994, 2004, and now 2024. With "The Goldfish", he has gathered only 2 accompanying musicians in contrast to the more audacious productions, the superb "After the Storm" and the less exciting "Circle of Madness", but the signature sound remains a fittingly chaotic yet partially accessible crossover with just a smidgen of the RIO in between the lines.

This is something of a frustrating listen as the "wow" factor is scattered about frugally amongst all tracks, making it hard to pick favorites. In addition, organ is a bit too prevalent and samey sounding. Ouellette would do well to repeat a theme now and then to ram home a point but is instead hell bent on the opposite artifice. Still, his voice hasn't slipped much in 30 years and the vocals and lyrics reveal a facility with English that excuse any political shots from the bow related to his refusal to write and sing in his native French.

The most generally appealing numbers are the at times folky "Loggers Tale" and the epic title cut, but, as I implied above, you might just as easily choose a non intersecting list. This is what makes "The Goldfish" swim in circles a bit too often in between adventurous explorations. Good enough. See you in 30 years according to the mathematical sequence to date.