“The Marriage Of The Sun And The Moon” is the sophomore release from US based artist Aaron English, following almost 5 years after his debut “All The Waters Of This World”.

The music on offer this time around, really isn’t progressive rock as such. Most songs on this release fits well into an adult contemporary category; quite a few of the tunes sound like they are written more or less as singer/songwriter tunes on guitar or piano, then being fleshed out with other instruments as the song have developed.

The acoustic guitar and the piano seems seems to share duties when it comes to outlining the main melody of the songs; with electric guitar licks and synth being given space to do the same on a couple of tracks. Most songs are then flavored with influences from jazz, folk or world music. The basic songs here kinda reminds me a bit of Tom Petty, with some flavoring from world music or folk added.

As for the individual songs here, there’s variety more in quality than in style. Quite a few tracks that sound like fillers for me, 6 of the 12 songs here are nice but average in my point of view.

The first tune on the album that made an impression was “Like Smoke”, with cool rhythms, eastern influences and a hypnotic chorus really standing out after two more mediocre tracks. “Weeping Wind” creates a strong mood of darkness and autumn, “Me and my Rainshadow” is a fragile tune where the mood of loneliness is really given a strong outing, while ending track “Moon Murmurs” is something else entirely, transporting you to another place in time and space.

But the best tracks on this release are “Crossing The Desert, Crossing The Sea”, as well as an extremely well done cover version of the old Police hit “Message In A Bottle”. Both those tracks are moments of pure brilliance, and in themselves makes this release worth buying.

My rating: 73/100