“To Prog or not to Prog, that is the question” proclaimed loudly by the infamous prog bassist William “Hamlet” Stirlance, a common quandary faced by many a band seeking to carve out some semblance of a career, unsure of their sound or audience as they embark on their artistic voyage. This Gatehead England band has created an opening opus that straddles the line between popular accessibility and, as Hawkwind once stated, the “Quark, Strangeness & Charm” of progressive rock. Living in Shadows is a duo of vocalist Zoe Gilby and multi-instrumentalist Andy Champion, who handles all the musical chores with the aid of guest guitarists Mark Williams and Chris Sharkey.
The opening “Cast Away” immediately establishes the musical credentials, a pungent mélange of acerbic guitar based riffery, abetted by a rollicking bass undertone that seeks no mercy and a sophisticated lead vocal that convinces from the get-go. Hypnotic, elusive and serpentine, the piece takes that fine path between easy and complex, this is quite the ride. The same can be announced for the follow-up track “Who Are You?”, another somewhat oblique questioning that proposes a coarse upfront fretboard sluice that has obvious technical audacity, the robust bass asks the enquiry with an obligatory fretless question mark, only to liberate the lead guitar to roam in a neo-hard jazz style that is utterly astonishing. Zoe’s sweeping voice exhortations are impressive.
A wildly tick-tocking rhythmic pattern emits a late-night feel on “Silently Dancing”, a hint of classic Sade but in a harsher mood, I had to pick my jaw off the floor for a second, so revelatory and unexpected. The blustery atmosphere has this melodramatic tinge to it, a sensation that remains vague to explain fully but I felt compelled to twirl noiselessly. Very entertaining slice of music.
Maintaining that airy feel, “Wide Open Sky” evokes escapist meanderings, led by subtle vocal work that seeks to enchant and beguile, not too distant from China Crisis, one of those alternative 80s bands that straddled that thin red line mentioned earlier, and that I have enjoyed immensely ever since. Clinging and clanging, robust and yet spacious, the rhythmic work is stupendously presented with some scintillating drum pounding. Zoe’s insistent voice is truly mesmerizing; a new star is born.
The diaphanous “Leaving Light” is quite the revelation, showcasing a soft acoustic ballad replete with orchestrations, an adamant piano and shrouding synth backdrop. The tremendous synthesizer solo emulates the voice, almost intertwined in loving embrace, an entrancing track that defies comparisons, a hypnotic moment of atmospheric bliss.
Back to energetic guitar pirouettes and muscular drum patterns, the cosmic permutations of “Satellites” emit an otherworldly sense of confusion, led by a deliriously burly organ rant and a modern take in the various vocal details proposed here. It’s hectic, even though a brief bass interlude seeks the lower the pressure somewhat, entering a dreamier orbit as Zoe urges her microphone to swoon and moan with unabashed abandon. Another killer track, please keep that bellicose organ in your armoury, it can hide in the shadows anytime, ready to erupt.
All these explanations finally come to fruition on the whopping “Page by Page”, a sprawling 10 minute+ workout in clearly extended progressive mode, immediately evident in the relaxed and unhurried buildup, a grooving pace made intriguing by the expert voice, as well as the shifts in tempo and instrumentation. Halfway through, the shift to a rawer sound gives the arrangement an elevation of intensity that cannot go unnoticed, the keyboard backing increasing in volume and scope, and thus, realigning a final shift to tackle the home stretch in a linear finale that lingers into the next chapter.
The title track behaves like a short encore, a culminating e-piano setting the score (Ed-poetry again?) with Zoe’s hushed vocal dancing silently with a seductive bass partner, tingling guitar admiring the embrace from afar, a glowing little bulb of phosphorescence that is remarkable.
This band needs not to remain in the shadows any longer, and as one who clearly recognizes (and dislikes) the constraints of musical genres, I suggest for this band to further consolidate this “grey” area, as the main ingredients are simply first rate and they should find an audience with their formula.
4.5 fluorescent fires
