RELATIONS

After barely two years, the Dutch progressive rock project The Foundation has released a follow-up to their debut album, "Mask." The new album is titled "Relations." Because it's not entirely a concept album, The Foundation founder Ron Lammers calls it a thematic album. An album about all kinds of relationships between us humans and all kinds of partners and environments. To be able to connect with another, you first have to love yourself. But this doesn't stop there; what is the relationship between us and the world, nature, and our creator? The positive reactions and reviews of their debut album, "Mask," not only inspired all the members to create more music together, but also led to this second album being created by almost the same group of musicians. Jan Munnik could now fully concentrate on the mixing and mastering of the album. This is because more members contributed compositions and more members are responsible for all the keyboard parts. The only new name is Masaki Shimakawa ("Makkie"), who is responsible for the violin parts in the song "BackBone." One of two compositions by guitarist Rinie Huigen. Multi-instrumentalist Gijs Koopman contributed three pieces, singer Mark Smit the only French-language song "Ses Lunettes Noires," and keyboardist Ron Lammers contributed two. This resulted in an even more varied and consistent sound. The Foundation project sounds like a well-oiled band on "Relations." Yours truly (Douwe Fledderus, Blissy Design) was once again commissioned to provide the compositions with suitable artwork. Besides the music, the artwork also had to evolve to a higher level. I hope you think this was achieved. I won't comment on that myself, of course, but the music turned out well. Who said a second album is always difficult to make? In addition to digital releases, the album, like "Mask," has been released physically as a 28-page media-book and double vinyl.

The album "Relations" has 8 tracks of which the middle 6 are enclosed by a diptych which consists of the tracks "Alpha" and "Omega". As the designer of the artwork, I chose the two images I designed especially for these two tracks for the front of the printed inner covers of the vinyl version. You could also see them as part 1 and part 2 of a long epic composition written by Gijs Koopman. But this long composition is deliberately divided into two parts. Personally, I think this is a right choice because it also emphasises the homogeneous nature of the album. Especially if you consider that the third composition, which is by Gijs Koopman, is placed in the centre of the album. This has to do with the intensity and progressive character of these compositions. So I think that third Koopman composition that has been given the title "Intense" has been deliberately put in the middle of the tracklist. The other songs emphasise more the melodic character of The Foundation's music. You could call this one of the trademarks of (The Foundation's) music. "Relations" has become a very varied but very homogeneous album. And the position of the tracks certainly contributed to that. Everything has been well thought out and as the designer of the artwork I was also able to make a small contribution to that. Another trademark is of course the frequent use of a Rickenbacher bass and the Moog Taurus bass pedals. Lovers of the sound of these instruments will get their money's worth in "Alpha" and "Omega". Thematically, these compositions are about our relationship with our creator. If you listen carefully to the lyrics of singer Mark Smit, you will hear that the creation story from the Bible is incorporated into this. Would like to emphasise that The Foundation only wants to convey the positive message of the faith of some of its members and certainly does not want to go towards gospel. It's not like Neal Morse, where you can get annoyed.

In the song "Alpha" the symphonic character of the music stands out. You can enjoy fat synths and Taurus bass pedals in the instrumental parts. But as a contrast, the vocal parts are very melodic. The beautiful melodic flute work by Judith van der Valk, which is combined with the vocals of singer Mark Smit, should certainly not be unmentioned. In the spectacular last instrumental part, this is combined in a fantastic way. Fat but melodic keyboard carpets, melodic guitar work and a Gijs Koopman who goes all out on his Rickenbacker bass. Personally, I would buy this album for this wonderful opener, where for me personally the thoughts go back to the music of the band Cliffhanger. Fantastic opener of this remarkable album.

The second song is a composition by Ron Lammers. The instrumental "Beauty of Nature" opens with a beautiful melodic flute and Low whistle solo by Judith van der Valk. This intro exudes an Irish / Celtic atmosphere. This is followed by very beautiful melodic electric guitar work by Rinie Huigen, who surpasses himself on this album, with his melodic guitar style and his own compositions. Just listen to the next track "Backbone". A beautiful composition by Rinie Huigen in which he plays both acoustically and electrically. It has a beautiful intro on acoustic guitar. Before switching to the electric guitar, newcomer Masaki ("Makkie") Shimakawa adds his beautiful violin sounds. The abrupt transition to the melodic electric guitar and delicious keyboard parts is very beautiful. This is followed by the first vocal part which has catchy choruses and where Gijs Koopman's supporting bass comes a little more to the fore. Just like on the debut album "Mask", singer Mark Smit convinces again with clearly audible vocal parts and intriguing lyrics. "Backbone" is a varied composition in which, in addition to the vocal choruses, some melodies on guitar and flute are repeated.

The next song is the surprise of this album. The original text was written in French and it has been decided not to translate it into English. The right choice because the atmosphere is preserved as much as possible and because some parts would be difficult to translate. The lyrics were written by Hugo Asensio, the stepson of singer Mark Smit who is responsible for the composition. In the first verses there is only accompaniment with delicate piano and quiet drum parts. This beautiful ballad gets its highlights from the melodic electric guitar injections at the end. A surprising and beautiful song. Now it's time for a Gijs Koopman composition again. An uptempo song with fat keyboard and bass pedal parts. This strong song slowly works towards a nice climax. This is another piece of pure symphonic rock that reminds me of the music of Knight Area because of the synth and guitar solos.

We already know Ron Lammer's composition "Rubberband", but a new mix has been made for this album. It is a number about the relationship between parent and child. This varied song is the longest song of "Relations" album with a duration of more than 10 minutes. The first part is instrumental and is again full of fat keyboard and electric guitar parts. The Moog solo was recorded by Gijs Koopman. In the second part there is a beautiful passage with acoustic guitar and flute. Fine synth melodies eventually bring us to the vocal part of this song. This song is also provided with beautiful vocal melodies. The music of The Foundation is always full of beautiful melodies. "Rubberband" is a strong song with beautiful vocals.

The song "Life" is a composition by guitarist Rinie Huigen. The song could be categorised as an acoustic ballad. In addition to the acoustic guitar, you hear delicate vocals and Judith van der Valk's flute is also back in the game. A nice rest before the album is closed with the aforementioned "Omega". As mentioned before, the song "Omega" is the second part of the diptych "Alpha" and "Omega." You could also say this is a long epic deliberately divided into two parts. Lyrically, we also continue with the creation story. First, we get a sort of introduction sung with a distorted voice. Then, vocalist Mark Smit, with an undistorted voice, continues with day two of the creation story. It's a long stretch of text that has to be recited. But this also allows the music to slowly increase in intensity, building to a fantastic climax. During this climax, guitarist Jens van der Valk, known primarily for his rhythm guitar skills, surprises with the most beautiful melodic electric guitar solo of the entire album. The Foundation ends its "Relations" album on a high note that leaves the listener with goosebumps on his or her arms.

With their second album, "Relations," the progressive rock project The Foundation proves that a second album doesn't have to be the most difficult. "Relations" shows progress in every respect. The members' enthusiasm has resulted in several composers who further develop their compositions (arrangements) through input from the others. This benefits the diversity and development of their own style and sound. The impressive thing is that the "Relations" album has a homogeneous feel. I believe this is also due to the positioning of the tracks and the conscious separation of the "Alpha" and "Omega" compositions. This creates a diverse album that still sounds cohesive. Leave the mixing and mastering of the album to Jan Munnik (M4-Studio). It once again yielded the right transparency. "Relations" sounds fantastic. You can also notice a positive development among the musicians. Gijs Koopman goes all out on his own compositions, and his characteristic playing on the Rickenbacker bass and Moog Taurus bass pedals gives The Foundation one of their trademarks. Speaking of trademarks, The Foundation once again goes for good melodies on this album. Guitarist Rinie Huigen also surprised me with two good compositions and polished guitar playing on both acoustic and electric guitar. We don't really need to mention singer Smit. With his intriguing lyrics and clearly audible vocals, he elevates this album to a higher level. Judith van der Valk's refined flute and (low) whistle sounds have become a staple in The Foundation's sound palette. Guitarist Jens van der Valk, known primarily for his rhythm guitar skills, conjures up a beautiful melodic guitar solo on this album. I think both guitarists stimulate each other to such an extent that they develop in a positive way. The fact that I haven't mentioned drummer Jan Grijpstra yet is actually a compliment, because this man truly serves the compositions. With his polished drum and percussion parts, he provides the necessary accents where needed. Keyboards play a significant role in The Foundation's soundscape. But as unassuming as he is, the keyboardist and composer Ron Lammers prefers polished and melodic keyboard playing over exuberant keyboard solos. And that's to his credit, everything in service of the composition. He's the leader and stimulator of the bunch. He's also the one who oversees The Foundation's sound (there must be plenty of melody) and determined the order of the previously discussed tracklist. For fans of their debut album, "Mask," the follow-up, "Relations," is a must-have. "Relations" is a well-balanced and fantastic album with a homogeneous feel. progVisions highly recommends this album to fans of melodic symphonic rock.

Douwe Fledderus, progVisions

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