QUIET EUPHORIA

Who is not excited for the release of another AMOEBA SPLIT album? The Galician (Spain) band's previous two albums--2010's Dance of the Goodbyes and 2016's Second Split--have been nothing short of masterpieces of Canterbury-inspired modern Jazz-Rock Fusion. And now, after a seven year gap, they release this, their third studio album. I am SUPER excited!

1. "Quiet Euphoria" (7:18) what starts out a little bland (with slow lower register piano note play for the first minute) suddenly breaks into quite the jazz classic--with almost a big band feel, thanks to the horns. The bass, drums, and vibraphome really get a groove on over the second two-thirds of the song. I LOVE it! (And I love that vibraphonist Israel Arranz has not been promoted to a full band member.) The sound clarity given each and every one of the instruments is nothing short of astonishing. And I marvel as I listen to the unusual, "old" effected synths, bass, and keys. And thank you, THANK YOU, for recording the drums without that horrible gated effect! This is the way drums are supposed to sound! Even the kooky, laughter filled ending is both fitting and engaging. (14/15)

2. "Shaping Shadows" (5:20) Opening with a Japanese shamisen-sounding instrument, the song graduallly morphs into a very cool, gently relaxing vibe. Then, at 1:30, when the horn section joins in, the music takes on an almost like an old BURT BACHARACH lounge jam feel (if Burt, in fact, ever jammed, that is). I love the heavily-effected "old style" sound of the keys and guitars as the trumpet solos. And, me, such a sucker for the trumpet: I am in heaven! Great Latin drum stylin', too! Like our favorite comfort foods, this one just has a great feel to it. In the fourth minute I hear a little relaxed DAVE STEWART-like sound coming from the keys while the synth and drums go native. Then the PAUL DESMOND "Take Five" horns bring us back to center for the finish. Magical! (9.333/10)

3. "The Inner Driving Force" (5:59) Despite the horns above (which open the song soloing as if in a processional for some mediæval king), and the initial MILES DAVIS Sketches from Spain feel, I hear a kind of combined CHICK COREA-VINCE GUARALDI piano foundation to this song. Great interplay between the soloists in the fourth minute. (8.875/10)

4. "Divide and Conquer" (3:02) opening with an odd high-pitched electric-horn-like synth squeaking, the drums and band enter with a very SOFT MACHINE-like sound palette. As the musical groove gets established I'm hearing things that remind me of early British band NUCLEUS, THOMAS DOLBY, and even HOMUNCULUS RES (the Casiotone soloing). Nice weave. Very cinematic. (9/10)

5. "Thrown to the Lions" (7:23) Very pleasant modern Canterbury sound and feel to this one--not unlike some of DAVE NEWHOUSE's recent songs, or even a little bit of old MILES DAVIS. That rolling bass play coupled with the Fender Rhodes keyboard is killer! Reminds me of 1970s DEODATO. When things settle into a more laid-back combo format in the fourth minute, they sound more like Devonshire band MAGIC BUS's releases of the 2010s. I love the flute play and then the band's dynamic interplay with the horns. Man! The bass and drums are so synched in! Cool flute and wah-ed Fender Rhodes interplay in the sixth minute! (Weird ending: as if the drummer got caught in the springs beneath his snare!) (14.25/15)

6. "No Time for Lullabies" (11:05) The opening two minutes of this one sound almost like a piece of classical music.. Such poise and deliberation! Then, beneath the alto clarinet, the piano begins to roam and flourish a bit--signalling a move into the realms of jazz. Electric guitar and synthesizer noises are companioned by the drummer's play on his kit's tom-toms before tenor saxophone joins in as the lead instrument. Do I hear some Coltrane riffs at the end of the fifth minute? Vibes join in with more prominent bass play as drums add cymbal play and synths continue to add their subtle magic. Synthesized trumpet and flugelhorn play off one another over ominous pipe organ cords in the seventh and eighth minutes. This is nowhere near the kind of music I was expecting--though there is something here that seems to tap into not only both John Coltrane's and Miles Davis' end-of-life albums but also the spirit of those early SOFT MACHINE/ROBERT WYATT albums. Just when I thought the song was winding down--with some lullaby-like percussion instrument playing alone, a gentle piano and flute duet starts back up and then takes us out with an eerie sonic "sound-check overload" type of synth sound. Weird! Though this was not what I was expecting, I definitely love it; I find myself totally in awe of the unusual avenue of expression explored here. (19.5/20)

Total Time 40:07

I love the fact that the band has been able to keep the exact same lineup of members since their 2016 release, Second Split. It is, in fact, nothing short of amazing. Though the music here feels more rooted in old, classic styles of the lounge and early jazz-rock fusion jazz movements, I am impressed with the courageous use of odd synths and stylistic shifts within each of the songs. In fact, I am blown away by the subtle integration of old styles and sounds into these very original yet-familiar (and comforting) feeling compositions.

A/five stars; a full-blown masterpiece of original Jazz-Rock Fusion--one that feels as if it is paying homage to many of the key shakers and movers of the 1960s and 1970s jazz-rock fusion movement.

After a long absence (since 2016 when their second album was released) the long awaited new work of Amoeba Split does not disappoint. Quite the contrary: it fully meets all possible expectations.

Without moving a millimeter from their style (a jazz-rock with classical influences, elegant and vigorous, a 21st century update of the Canterbury scene), the Galician band is able to offer a set of very inspired songs, with a very coherent structure, great timbric richness and, above all, very well performed.

Although the inheritance (or homage) of bands like Soft Machine, Caravan or Hatfield And The North can be perceived, the language and musical lines are so unquestionably of their own that you get that feeling of listening to something you know, but that at the same time is new and refreshing.

In short, this latest album by Amoeba Split is a solid addition to their discography, and I think it confirms them as one of the contemporary references of the Canterbury scene. A personal and original reinvention of progressive jazz-rock, musically creative, emotionally balanced and skillfully and sensitively executed.

Canterbury scene - Irony, fantasy, and spontaneity: these are the watchwords of this submerged branch of prog rock, in the perennial balance between jazz, prog, and psychedelia. The band with their third album "Quiet Euphoria" presents the magical alchemy of surreal atmospheres, lightness, and jazz flavor to reach its stylistic and expressive peak. There is room for everything: experimentation, delicacy, and power, they all manage to coexist in this album with a thousand faces, very tight and full of feeling in a fully jazz-rock sound. Behind this floral, colorful, and complex creature are the eight members of the group: Alberto Villarroya López / bass, guitars, keyboards, compositions, Ricardo Castro Varela / piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, arrangements, Iago Mouriño / piano, electric piano, Moog, Hammond organ, Fernando Lamas / drums & percussion, Pablo Añón / tenor saxophone, alto clarinet, Dubi Baamonde / soprano saxophone, flute, Rubén Salvador / trumpet, flugelhorn, and Israel Arranz / vibraphone.

This album explodes into an exciting ride supported by a rhythm section with a bass loaded with a melodic, imposing, sometimes enhanced with a distorted effect and constantly evolving groove. Also, notice how the rhythmic inserts of the guitar are placed to mark the accents with few but effective chords, but above all pay attention to the refined melodic embroidery of the keyboard which expands and enrich the already excellent bass lines. Music also shows colorful horn arrangements with rhythm changes and beautifully played keyboard sounds in a Canterbury dress. The musicians are given the freedom to perform solos, and so are allowed to shine individually.

There is a constructive and compositional constant, a very coherent line, but also an enlargement and a deepening towards each theme, so that the jazz parts sound even more jazz, the Canterbury contacts are decidedly clearer, all the purposes and proposals have become coherent, and more robust. The great and skillful use of wind instruments leads to orchestral jazz sounds, sometimes in the classic jazz-rock style, sometimes with a greater reference to the big bands of the twentieth century. However, a certain catchiness of the themes remains firm, although the arrangements are always elaborate and rich. Also occasional dissonances give additional volume and RIO touches, proto-prog feeling also sneaks into the melodies and all this together forms a masterpiece of progressive music.

The entire work is developed around fantastic melodies, here in great shape both on a strictly technical level and in terms of compositional taste. The album flows rapidly alternating valuable instrumental sections, halfway between jazz fusion technique, prog, and some caressing folk melodies. The album is strong in every respect, the songs have a melodic feel on the one hand, and yet not less demanding. On the contrary, the band acts in a complex way, be it in relation to the song structures themselves or the instrumentation. Long and complex instrumental pieces, which blend psychedelia, jazz, rock, classical references, and that difficult-to-explain note typical of the Canterbury movement, are never boring, on the contrary, they sound agile and fluid. The instrumental presentation is of excellent workmanship and allows us to better appreciate the multitude of themes, and counterpoints contained within it. Describing this album means peeking into the lavishly decorated pieces, where the musicians translate all their knowledge and skill into a musical context, loading each piece with strangeness, layering the arrangements, and zigzagging the melodic paths.

A lot of time has passed since their last album, seven to be exact, but I have to say that the wait was worth it, with this album the band reaffirms its place as one of the best bands in the world and delivers another masterpiece that will definitely, and with every right, resonate into the world of prog and jazz rock and become an inevitable classic of this music.

For a band that was formed as far back as 2001, the A Coruña based AMOEBA SPLIT from the Galician region of Spain has hardly been the most prolific artist in the world of progressive rock but one thing is for sure and that is that although this band is slow to deliver the goods, quality is always a top priority and disappointment isn't even in the possibility pile. It took the band nine years to formulate it's 2010 debut "Dance Of The Goodbyes" and another five for the sophomore offering "Second Split" to emerge. As the band has emerged as one of the 21st century's most revered Canterbury jazz acts that mines the retro sounds of the classic prog years and reinterprets them with modern twists and turns, Canterbury fans have been chomping at the bit for a new release and at long last on the 7th of April, 2023, AMOEBA SPLIT will release its third album after 22 years of existence.

QUIET EUPHORIA comes seven years after "Second Split" and pretty much picks up where that album left off without missing a beat. What's changed after all this time is the lineup (sort of). While "Second Split" featured six official members with a large number of session musicians, on QUIET EUPHORIA the official count is up to eight members with no guests on board. The band's sound has always revolved around the jazzy keyboard tradeoffs of Alberto Villarroya López and Ricardo Castro Varela only now there is another top player on board and that is IagoMouriño who only sat in as a part-time guest last time around. The keyboard sounds are expansive and cover all the expected retro sounds ranging from the moog, Hammond organ, electric piano, vibraphone as well as good old-fashioned traditional piano. Add to that, band has retained the heavy brassy jazz sounds as well with stealthy action from saxophones (tenor and soprano), the trumpet and flugelhorn.

As with the previous album QUIET EUPHORIA follows the classic vinyl years' playing time, in this case just a smidge over 40 minutes. Fortified with six feisty tracks, this time around the band upped the tempos a bit making this album rock a lot more than the rather dreamy mid-tempo processions of "Second Split." What remains constant on all of AMOEBA SPLIT releases is a keen perfectionist detail to the compositional fortitude, an obvious love of retro classic prog which in this case is firmly rooted in the world of the idiosyncratic world of jazz-fusion that emerged in the English city of Canterbury and was propelled onto the world's stage by the likes of Soft Machine, Matching Mole, Caravan, Supersister, Moving Gelatine Plates, National Health and Hatfield & The North. AMOEBA SPLIT is very faithful to those that came before but offers enough innovative takes on the style to make this a refreshing musical experience that builds on the traditions of the last half century.

This is an all instrumental affair like "Second Split" and given the lack of vocals to offer the whimsical side of the Canterbury Scene, AMOEBA SPLIT instead offers classically infused jazz-fusion workouts that tackle a wide swath of the progressive jazz-rock world while keeping that Canterbury warmth alive and kicking. The album's title track starts things out slow and brooding with a sombre piano roll belying the jazz-rock to come but once the horn section kicks in the larger than life interplay of brass and multiple keyboards display a fascinating interplay of musical motifs playing together to form a larger than the sum of parts brilliance. The album remains in an upbeat mood for the majority fo the playing time and it's not until the closing "No Time For Lullabies" that the mood dials down a little and offers a more sombre piano-based approach that follows suit from the opening aspects of the album.

Seven years is a long time to wait for a band to unleash its next chapter of musical masterworks but QUIET EUPHORIA was definitely worth the wait with excellent classic Canterbury sounds brought to life in the modern world with an impeccable production and mixing effort and a wide range of tones and timbres that perfectly decorate the Canterbury jazz-rock underpinnings. It's clear that this style of classic prog is in no danger of dying out any time soon and AMOEBA SPLIT has been instrumental in breathing new life into this most beloved style of progressive jazz-rock. QUIET EUPHORIA is a brilliant instrumental album that will get your retro prog juices flowing. Excellent! Will we really have to wait another seven years for the next album? Lord i hope not!

Spain's pre-eminent Canterbury-tinged jazz-rockers return after an agonising seven year wait with their third, and arguably best, album to date.

As with their previous efforts, this is a slice of charmingly old school fusion full of vintage keys, warm horn arrangements, clever arrangements and just enough of a psychedelic haze to warrant the Canterbury epithet. Let's be clear; there's not much in the way of innovation here, but that is decidedly not the point. If you're a fan of Soft Machine, Nucleus, Return to Forever, et al and you're jonesing for something new in that vein, I doubt you could do better than this gem of an album.

What makes Quiet Euphoria a particularly sterling effort, in my opinion, is the arrangements and sequencing of these pieces. Even quite complex instrumental albums still run the risk of becoming background music by the halfway point if they're poorly put together, but this album never even gets close. Each track brings unique tones, textures and musical ideas to the proceedings, ranging from the gleefully frenetic to the beguilingly placid. The end result is a consistently engaging musical journey that flows tremendously and never outstays its welcome.

Track Highlights: The Inner Driving Force, No Time for Lullabies

This is a must-listen album. In fact, give it a couple of sins. Because the secrets of its brilliance may not embrace you immediately. A least it took me some time to understand what makes this so special.

Craftsmanship, joy, pure talent and great songs make this a candidate for album of the year for me.

Quiet Euphoria - Softly, the theme of the song is introduced by the piano. Then, the track explodes in all its energy, jazziness and funkiness. The bass and drums lay a solid foundation for the rest of the band to go wild. Excellent start of the album 9.5/10

Shaping Shadows - Strong Miles Davis vibes here. Very jazzy and free-flowing song. 8.5/10

The Inner Driving Force - Is another song that has strong Miles Davis influences. Obviously due to the trumpet, but also because of how the band plays off each other. 8.5/10

Divide and Conquer - Heavier than we have heard before through the driving bass line. This track reminds me of King Crimson, even including some Frippertronics. 8.5/10

Thrown to the Lions - Is another beautifully jazzy piece. Guitar solos are standout here 8.5/10

No Time for Lullabies - Is a great moody song to close the album. Again, the trumpet has Miles all over it, in a good way. 9/10

This is an album that enriches any prog collection. Beautiful!

Here I was expecting some prog masterpiece because of the good ratings, but this is not the case. It's not Canterbury in the style of my favorites (Hatfield and the North, National Health and Egg), but rather jazz-jams with hints of Frank Zappa, only duller. Rather traditional jazz-instrumentation with brass, which is a big turnoff for me. It is simply too derivative and not progressive at all. The synth solos just isn't my cup of tea; something off about the sounds to my ears. The drummer is an ok player, but can't play with power and passion it seems. One star for now, after three listens.

For me, Amoeba Split's latest album is a great album, probably the best of the three they have released to date. I don't think it's relevant to categorize if it's a Canterbury record or not (labels don't matter to me) or if it's a masterpiece or not (time will tell). What is really relevant is: 1. that it withstands numerous listens without tiring the listener, 2. that the proposal is risky and courageous (tracks like "No time for lullabies" are not at all common or expected on a Canterbury album) and 3. that the record is coherent throughout its development, without being forced. All of them are reasons enough to satisfy the most demanding listener of progressive music.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there is a general consensus of this "Quiet Euphoria" by many experts in various reviews and scores given on the net: as they say in my country "if the river sounds, water carries". In any case, do not get carried away by better or worse scores: I encourage those who have not yet heard the work not to hesitate and embark without prejudice to listen to the album, it is well worth it. They will be tremendously rewarded, because this is essentially what progressive music is all about.

This is very good stuff. Funny instrumental games with a rhythm and transitions in the style of the jazz of the 60s. The compositional creativity does not falter at any moment because the level never goes down... but neither does it go up and that lack of risks is what keeps it always below the emotions and the hypothetical leaps that could give a level jump. A calm and soothing canterbury sound more for the musicians than for the average listener. My first listen of the group, I will keep their two previous albums in mind for future plays. Spain prog is always amusing!

Spanning the genres of jazz-rock, Canterbury and contemporary, these 6 tracks reveal across over its lenght instrumental dexterity, compositional imagination and respect for their musical ancestors. The recording and mixing are exceptional and its sound refers to the old records of the 70s without trying to clone them. Truly immersive and brilliant, "Quiet Euphoria" is an album within which to get lost. Writhing with creative rigour and immediacy, it's yet another proof of the incredible potential tapped when great musicians commune within the terms of a deep mutual respect. Mind expanding band, with fantastic interplay that really goes deep. The best track is No time for Lullabies, creatively incredible.

It seems like Amoeba Split are big believers in quality over quantity, only releasing albums every six or seven years or so. Quiet Euphoria is an aptly-named release, offering a relaxing set with its roots in the jazzier end of the Canterbury spectrum. Impeccable production combined with two keyboardists and three wind instrument players gives the band a rich, deep palette of sonic options, which they make excellent use of. With this album, Amoeba Split deserve to be considered in the same terms as Picchio Dal Pozzo or the Muffins - international groups who build further on the foundations laid by the classic Canterbury bands of the original scene, despite having no direct connection in terms of personnel.

3.5 stars. This is studio album number three for these Spaniards as they continue with their jazzy styled all instrumental music. A big band consisting of 8 musicians including two keyboardists, three horn players, a drummer and vibes player and finally multi-instrumentalist Alberto Lopez playing guitar, bass and keyboards as well as being the composer.

I must admit I was going to pass on this one but like others the high ratings changed my mind. I did enjoy the first two records but not enough to continue with them. I do feel this is a step down from those. The opener and closer which I place a lot of value on are disappointing, especially the 11 minute closer that sounds like an improv that didn't go well. The opener and title track is pretty good but I'm surprised at the vibes leading for most of it. Piano early and late and it's fairly catchy.

My favourite track by far is "Thrown To The Lions" a tale that Daniel lived to tell. This has a SOFT MACHINE vibe to it and really that is the only band that came to mind during my time spent with this record. I just like the feel of this one, good vibes for sure and the horns have a lot to do with that. Oh electric piano too? And with electric bass, yes this is the song folks. A spacey calm ends it for reflection. Daniel's space. How about the 80's sounding synths on "Divide And Conquer" I like them they're so melancholic.

I have to mention the album art that had me squinting to see what the girl was holding. Well check out the back cover of an evening view of that telescope without the girl. Then inside we get numerous pictures from different angles and it's all so cool. Well done. Good album but not on the level most feel it is.