ONE LIGHT YEAR

It's taken eleven years to get MARYGOLD's 2nd studio album, but I guess: it was well worth the long time of waiting. New issue entitled 'One Light Year' sounds like a logical continuation of familiar sonic aura; albeit, Italian quintet have expanded the tonal palette to enrich their musical approach. These lads have no problems, combining the calm melodies and subtle elements with instrumental sophistication and scattered hard-edged bursts. Now comprised of Massimo Basaglia (lead guitar), Stefano Bigarelli (keyboards), Marco Adami (bass guitar), Marco Pascuetto (drums / percussion) and Guido Cavalleri (vocals), Marygold do everything in their own manner that's important for the songs. Of course, I wanna dive a bit further into the overall aspects of this new release. Track-by-track. The album begins with mid-tempo 'Ants in the Sand', where the emphasis draws from a diversity of musical strands. In the first place, it resembles old Marillion. After a while, the second half of composition brings very beautiful female vocals from Irene Tamassia, but that, in turn, abruptly revised to the pure instrumental part a'la rock'n'roll. Next up, '15 Years' which moves along pretty close to the stylistic of Fish-era Marillion. Extensive 'Spherax H2O' lasts for more than twelve minutes with excitiment going on. If any track on the disc may be compared with a bridge between Procol Harum and Genesis, this is it. Once again, the lead vocalist Guido Cavalleri manages to put a lot of emotion and disturbing simultaneously. Stefano Bigarelli shows his unerring sense for the keyboard atmosphere, while Massimo Basaglia delivers some excellent guitar playing. Marco Adami on bass and Marco Pascuetto on drums confirm their strong rhythmical prowess. The forth chapter 'Travel Notes on Bretagne' continues a gripping musical journey. Definitely recognisable as a Marillion and Jadis conjunction, 'Without Stalagmite' presents the fascinating instrumental piece. It's followed by 'Pain', another reminiscent of early Marillion. If that still wasn't enough, сoncluding 11 + min. opus 'Lord Of Time' sounds like a pinnacle for the group. It stands out as the most vivid number on the whole album, being infused with sparks of vintage intrigue, multiplexed textures, grand synth layers, flawless guitar improvisation, clever rhythm backdrop, many tricks, overtones and slick sophistication. Generally speaking, the tight interaction of all instruments and vocal work provides completeness in scope. To sum up: Marygold have returned with a solid album that's clearly deserving of praise!

3.5 stars. Apparently I was the only one who loved MARYGOLD's debut called "The Guns Of Marygold". Funny I remember getting a message on here from the guitarist thanking me for the review and mentioning that the tone of his guitar that I liked so much and mentioned in my review was in the process of being changed. He laughed over that and the fact that fellow Italians THE WATCH were getting all of the attention and not them. Again he has such a good sense of humour. So here we are with their latest from 2017 and the guitar tone is changed and they still aren't as popular as THE WATCH haha.

I actually spun their debut last night just to see if I really did like it more than this one and the answer is an enthusiastic yes! I just connect with it more and it moves me. Yes I might need some help because the debut is a Neo-Prog album but I don't think this one is. Tough to pick a favourite song , I mean I like the album and of course the singer who always sounds like it's an effort for him to sing but he's one of the big positives for me. The female vocals I was disappointed with, I'd rather hear him. The two tracks that stand out somewhat for me are "Travel Notes On Bretagne" and the closer and longest track "Lord Of Time". A quality release but one that doesn't connect with me like the debut.