A NEW DAY

Some great modern RPI featuring wonderful flutes and piano. The album ends up covering a nice bit of territory from standard symphonic wonder to solo piano, and atmospheric sections. All important: the singing. A central part of the sound, it is also important to note that it is in English, but it works quite well. The flutes and guitars really carry the day, excellently laid down. John Hackett in particular just plays the flute beautifully, adding so much to the already rich soundscapes. Serri and Marra, a man and a woman, are the vocalists, and that combination, with the good work they managed to do in English, is impressive and adds even more. Nothing sticks out in particular, but the results are still spectacular and pretty. A great listen, symphonic fans will love it, and RPI fans will in all likelihood do as well, if they can get past the English lyrics by way of them being good. Recommended.

At times erroneously depicted as an offshoot of ERIS PLUVIA, NARROW PASS was formed in the 1980s by Mauro Montobbio and does count several original members of that band, who now form the ANCIENT VEIL, within their ranks. On "A New Day", Alessandro Serri sings and plays an assortment of instruments, while Edmondo Romano contributes a selection of winds. Balancing female vocals are offered by Anna Marra. But the marquee here is illuminated by JOHN HACKETT, whose flutes grace half the tracks. Given this admixture , it's no surprise that "A New Day" is instantly recognizable as another NARROW PASS production, commensurate with a more soothing GENESIS, CAMEL, or PFM, as well as the aforementioned groups. The focus is on soothing melody and texture, with occasional brief soloing. One track, "Metamorphosis", is harder rocking but remains nonetheless within the breadth of the group. Vocals as before are in English in contrast to most RPI, recounting a science fiction tale so elaborate that the full narrative must be included separate from the lyric sheet. That said, it makes for lovely packaging.

While a uniformly pleasant listen, "A New Day" retains most of the qualities that made prior releases good but not especially memorable. In spite of the skilled work of all parties involved, I find few if any "wow" moments let alone passages, and don't consider the attempts to connect the pieces thematically to be particularly successful. I almost feel guilty for saying this, best laid plans and all, but this new day is a lot like the old one, which makes it seem just a tad longer.