LOTUS UNFOLDING

There are few bands that you can trust anything they've ever released. You can't say that about Hawkwind, especially with all those unofficial releases that flooded the marked without the band's knowledge. To be fair they had a few stinker official releases too. But with Ozric Tentacles, you pick a release and you get an idea what they're like. Some are better than others, no one will deny the brilliance of albums like Erpland or Jurassic Shift. Technicians of the Sacred is definitely my favorite of their more recent releases, but it looks like Lotus Unfolding will rival that one. Space for the Earth, while an excellent album, never reached the heights of Technicians of the Sacred, but Lotus Unfolding is nothing short of amazing. It's much more intense and energetic than its predecessor. Ed and Silas are present, but surprisingly so is Brandi, who I thought stayed in the States as Ed moved to Scotland. Perhaps she couldn't find anyone to play with at home in the States, so she returned to the Ozrics. Also included is Paul Hankin, an early Ozric member that I'm so happy to see return (after Strangeitude, he hadn't appeared on an Ozric album until Technicans). Also, we get Tim Wallander of the Swedish band Agusa on drums. If you dislike the electronic side of Ozrics, it's doubtful Lotus Unfolding will change your mind, it is one of their more electronic albums, but then that never bothered me, they often had more electronic-leaning albums as early as Become the Other. "Stormy Teacup" shows very creative use of synths and Ed providing his usual great guitar work, same for "Deep Blue Shade". Then there's the title track, with some nice flute from someone other than John, in this case Saskia Maxwell, a Cornish musician who apparently recorded some stuff with Silas, so no surprise she'd appear on an Ozric release; however, she only appears on two tracks, this one, and "Burundi Spaceport". The title track starts off with a synth pattern similar to Steve Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick (which seems like a rather obvious album that inspired a lot of the Ozrics' synth sound), but then there's added flute (not too different from what John has done) and drums. It's a bit more calm, but one point Brandi is using the exact same bass line heard on "Oolite Groove" off Curious Corn. Paul Hankin really shines on "Green Incantation" with rather creative use of percussion, it's the percussion that really shines here, but it's still an incredible piece. I have to say that I was very much blown away by this album, certainly a favorite of 2023, a year that's been a favorite of mine for prog in recent years, mostly Norwegian like The Chronicle of Father Robin's The Songs & Tales of Airoea three-LP box set, Lars Fredrik Frøislie's Fire Fortelligner, and Jordsjø's Salighet, making Ozric Tentacle's Lotus Unfolding as the major non-Norwegian album that made it for Album of the Year 2023 for me. So if you're a long-time Ozric fan or just beginning, this is a wonderful album to have.

Ed Wynne has chosen to revive the "Ozric" name--with the help of his family and some friends--for this, their 16th studio album release, and I have to concur with the other early reviewers: this may be one of their best albums ever-- certainly top five!

1. "Storm in a Teacup" (9:37) a song that captures all of the instrumentalists (and programs) contributing equally and fully to the break-neck rush-forward race down the highway that it presents, start to near-finish. Definitely my favorite song on the album. (18.75/20)

2. "Deep Blue Shade" (5:09) another perfectly balanced Ozric soundscape that conjures (and calls) up all of the best of everything this band has ever done and yet is uniquely its own song. The bass, synths, and percussion play really stand out for me. Like the album's opener, this song makes me want to dance! (9/10)

3. "Lotus Unfolding" (8:13) calm, floating music that conjures up dreams or meditations of exotic jungle scenery. Saskia Maxwell's beautiful ethereal flute is the lead instrument for the first three minutes. In the fourth minute drums, bass, and keys kick in, giving the beautiful music some flow, while the flute comes back sounding a bit distant due to its place within the mix. Great bass line from Brandi Wynne and easy going, yet impressive drums from Tim Wallander lead to a heavier section with Ed's electric guitar searing in the lead. With a few gentle stop-and-starts the synths join in as the flute returns to counter the guitars and synth. Beautiful song. My second top three. (14/15)

4. "Crumplepenny" (9:55) quirky-wonky synth percussives woven together open this song for a long and prolonged stop-and-start intro. In the third minute acoustic steel-string guitar announces itself as the lead instrument while the band continues its little game of hide and seek--trying to decide whether or not to congeal into an united force. Finally they do: in an awesome driving motif. Guitars, drums, synth programs are all great but the rapid-fire, single-note bass line is the driving force behind it all. In the middle we enter a star-ceilinged cave of mystical awe in which everyone just stops, drops their jaws, and looks around them for a bit. When the band kicks back in, it's with a totally new motif, vocoder syllables thrown into the soup with everybody else. Great percussion work from Paul Hankin as well as awesome synth lines and acoustic guitar play. The song then comes to a close as it started: with quirk and indecision-- despite the acoustic guitar's attempt at leadership. Very cool and unusual song--even for the Ozrics! My other top three song. (18.25/20)

5. "Green Incantation" (7:38) with its funky bass, stop-and-go and play, and lead acoustic 12-string guitar, this one sounds like something from a STEVE TIBBETTS or DIF JUZ album. Great start. Wonderful engineering while somehow keeping a 1970s rock sound at the foundation despite the typical Ozrics pixie synth play (courtesy of Silas Wynne?). "Normal" electric guitar takes the lead in the seventh and eighth minutes. (13.375/15)

6. "Burundi Spaceport" (5:08) heavily-effected guitar solos over a steadily-rolled bass note as incidental synth and hand percussives play into a texturized background. In the third minute the full band finally comes together-- consolidates into a kind of Calypso foundation over which a distant multi-dimensional being (effected guitar) snorts and flies around as if some kind of elusive Chinese dragon flitting around the river canyon (8.75/10)

Total Time 45:40

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive rock music. Come on everybody, get on board: Welcome back the Ozrics!

Ozric Tentacles return with Lotus Unfolding, in which the Wynne clan and guests offer up something with a little bit more bite than Space For the Earth and Technicians of the Sacred. There's still the clean, pristine production one has come to expect from recent Ozrics releases, but at the same time there's a forcefulness to the music which has been missing for a while, with opener Storm In a Teacup setting the pace and the rest of the material ably measuring up to the standard set. It's nothing to completely shift the direction of the group's gradual musical evolution, but it is a finely-crafted product of it.