DRIFTING SUN

DRIFTING SUN began in the 1990s. There doesn't seem to be an exact year given anywhere which is odd for a modern band actually. This band is also strange in that although formed in England, the original lineup which actually started with the moniker Drama consisted of two French natives Pat Sanders (keyboards) and Manu Sibona (bass) who collaborated with the American singer Rafe Pomeroy. The trio recorded a bunch of demos and found interest from the Musea label which is French! Soon after the band would become DRIFTING SUN and recruit Rob Thompson on guitars and John Lingwood on drums.

This self-titled album was released in 1996 with a special appearance from Karl Groom on guitar on "Call It Love" and the mixing done by none other than neo-prog royalty Clive Nolan. While DRIFTING SUN has gained a lot more attention since 2015 when the band was regrouped after a long hiatus, in the 1990s there were two albums released. This 1996 debut and the following 1999 "On The Rebound." At this point DRIFTING SUN sounds like a completely different band if you are only coming to them with their current album "Forsaken Innocence" released in 2021. This first offering sounds very amateurish with clunky neo-prog songs by the numbers and sounds like it was inspired by the heavier rocking side of Fish-era Marillion.

Eponymous album aka the debut featured nine tracks which were more upbeat rockers than the standard 90s neo-prog from the bigwigs such as Arena, IQ, Hogarth era Marillion and the legion of others. The hard rock heft that has been included in more of the modern neo-prog wasn't the norm this far back so perhaps DRIFTING SUN was inspiration in that department however this album isn't particularly memorable for many reasons. Firstly Rafe Pomeroy didn't really have a vocal style that suited the emotive tugs that neo-prog is noted for. His bar room biker bar grizzle may have worked better singing George Thorogood cover songs but for this type of music, it just doesn't work so well.

Secondly the music is too upbeat all the time. Pat Sanders who is the only member to stick around to the present has improved exponentially since these early years. In the beginning there were no dynamic shifts, no escapades into atmospheric mood builders and even the compositions themselves are rather forgettable. What saves this album from venturing completely outside of the parameters of what we consider neo-prog are the keyboard runs and the style in which the compositions are crafted otherwise this album sounds more like a garage band than anything progressive. There are those occasional atmospheric guitar sweeps such as on "Call It Love" but for the most part this is very much amateur hour.

After discovering a band i really dig, i always want to investigate its origins and it's clear that DRIFTING SUN has evolved into one of neo-prog's most talented acts over the years however if you go all the way back to these humble beginnings it's quite clear that Sanders and friends certainly weren't born with the lessons learned and were merely imitating their influences at this point and not particularly well. As much as i adore the band's newest release "Forsaken Innocence," i equally am bored to tears by this debut. Many of the attributes are in place such as the use of more time signature devotions than the average neo-prog band however as far as the production, rotisserie of dynamics and compositional fortitude are concerned, there was still a long way to go. Luckily the band would get the memo fairly quickly and produce more interesting albums after this uninspiring debut.

2.5 rounded down