Rhys Marsh – ’October After All’ (2019)

Karisma Records Norway 2109

ReviewBy Geoff Penn

Ambient Prog / AOR

CD 46:00

https://rhysmarsh.com/

www.facebook.com/therhysmarsh

My Rating 80/100

Music is such a beautifully extensive means of communication, particularly so, when associated with different artists and bands in the progressive rock genre. One of the reasons for this is that individual artists or bands in this genera seem to have far more of a say over how they want their resultant compositions to sound. One, therefore, imagines that a huge contribution to the actual sound output and how the final mix is arranged is scrutinized directly by the artist in order to achieve, with the engineer, the resultant atmospheric feel desired by the composer. Londoner, ‘Rhys Marsh’, now living in the Norwegian city of Trondheim, goes one better for not only is he a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist but also the producer and engineer at his celebrated “Autumn Songs Studio,” Therefore, and without doubt ‘Rhys’ entire presence and personality has been firmly watermarked into this album “October After All”, the subject of this review

“October After All” is one of those albums whose poetic and compositional charms gradually draw you into the depths of its symphonic bosom. This is because your judgement at the first time of listening cannot absorb the sheer magnitude of musical happenings going on all at once and at any one time. This situation is exacerbated because the initial expectations of what might be a nicely organised set of singer-songwriter tunes is soon far exceeded with something far more complex and interesting. The truth is that with every successive visit to this album more and more musical gems are revealed and pathways of sheer musical joy opened up. An album packed with delightful flurries of synthesizer modulation, an abundance of vocal inflexions and driven forward by a progressive stream of relaxing percussion and tuneful bass throughout its entirety. Such delightful pathways being further reinforced with striking jazz fueled sequences comprising dreamlike trumpet and saxophone arrangements all beautifully moulded to accentuate the carefree atmospheric groove created by the harmonious direction that the music takes.

It is an album that can be played on two distinctly separate levels there is for instance a particularly romantic edge to the proceedings, a kind of restful and dreamlike quality that creates an overall warm glow when set as background music. And then from a much deeper listening perspective a more detailed appreciation of the technical aspects involved. A rare treat as well, is an album that one can both sing along to and actually dance along with.

From a vocal perspective ‘Rhys’ has a fairly unique and casual singing style full of warmth and cordiality. It’s difficult to judge how versatile and to what degree his vocal range extends but that is of no concern because he has cleverly integrated the profile of his vocal output to exactly match the music he has composed. Engaging too are the delightful female support vocals that have been perfectly arranged to blend into the overall vocal mix. There is a hint of ‘Steely Dan’ about the choral arrangements which expand the feel of the music greatly adding charm and panache.

Summary: A delightfully atmospheric album to absorb and slowly digest. – Artwork: Black and White atmospheric photo by Carl Glover

Songs / Tracks Listing