THE WATER'S EDGE

Haze these days are a quartet of Chris McMahon (keyboards, bass, vocals), Paul McMahon (guitars, lead vocals), Danny McMahon (drums & percussion) and Catrin Ashton (flute, fiddle) along with some guests, Jessica McMahon (backing vocals), Lily McMahon (backing vocals), Hazel McMahon (backing vocals), Charlie Bramald (vocals) and Derek Nash (saxophone). Haze have long been one of my favourite bands, and I was even thanked in their 20th Anniversary live album: one of the things I have always liked about them is that not only have they always been one of the hardest gigging bands around, but even Haze is not enough. I have lost count of times I have seen Chris play outside of Haze, for him playing music is as essential as breathing, and he and Paul have a knack of continually providing songs which are melodic, full of hooks, and refusing to stick with one particular style. While they will always be associated with neo prog, there is an argument to say they often play music which is more influenced by melodic rock than prog, while folk is an important element at others.

Catrin adds an additional element, but she is not on every song, while Chris uses a wide variety of keyboard sounds as well as using both fretted and fretless bass and Paul moves between acoustic and electric guitars with ease. Paul provides lead vocals on all but one song, where he is replaced in that role by his brother, we get sax on just one but for the most part this is the quartet. Chris has always had an affinity with folk, and "The Outlandish Knight" is their version of a traditional number where they move through folk to metal to prog, back to metal, to ambient, back to prog, then folk before ending back on metal. "Drinking with the Devil" has them channelling Deep Purple, "Parasite" is more VDGG, while they seemingly have never found a time signature they don't like, so while 4/4 does make an appearance they are as likely to be playing in 13/8, 6/8, 7/8 etc. There is a great quote on their website, "We are Haze and convention is optional" (which would make a great t-shirt).

More than 30 years since I first came across the guys, and 46 years since they first formed, Haze are showing no sign whatsoever of slowing down. Anyone who saw them playing anywhere and everywhere in the Eighties will be glad to know they are still rocking hard with wonderful songs and performances. Long may it continue.

Stubborn resistance, artistic integrity and boundless fortitude are the first words to come to mind with this UK band that has been around for 46 years now, perhaps easier when it's a pretty much a family affair. To further highlight their incredible story, their debut 1984 album had a visionary title: "C'est la Vie". The McMahon Brothers, first with Chris (bass, keyboards, bass) and Paul (vocals, guitars) back then and now adding Danny on drums and Jessica, Hazel and Jenny on backing vocals have devoted their artistic life in creating music that truly transcends the usual boring, often treacherous business side of things, for the sheer love of their craft. I latched on rather late, I apologizingly admit, with their previous 2020 "Back to the Bones" release which I found myself enjoying a great deal. The Rogue has always been a sucker for anything folk, medieval, and Renaissance/Middle Ages will do me just fine, thanks. My love for harpsichord, lute, mandolin, dulcimer, cimbalom, fiddle, bagpipes, recorders and all woodwinds is eternal, growing up on Rabelais/Gentle Giant, La Chanson de Roland/Gryphon and Francois Villon /Malicorne. So, it shall not come as a surprise that a sensational epic track like "the Outlandish Knight" will crucify me with pleasure. More about that piece later. We have a lavish torch-lit, banner festooned sonic banquet of the highest order that awaits, running well over one hour.

Kudos for inviting the fabulous guest singer (and current prog throb) Charlie Bramald to open up the festivities on the first track "Flight Behaviour"! Marshalling drumbeats, thick as brick guitar riffs, bubbly synths, epic vocalizing and a rocking attitude convey the wake -up call, as the Catrin Ashton flutes take their turn in enchantment, paralleled my smooth guitar solo. The acceleration pedal is maintained on the companion piece "Not Alone", owner of a sing-along chorus urging to be yelled out by an audience in a concert setting, the highlight is the muscular bass propeller, and the colossal interweaving of instruments created in its wake. Paul's vocals are equally on full throttle, utterly enraged and compelling, a trait that will be repeated throughout this luscious album.

The title track is a ballad in the fine tradition of the island's folk heritage, elegant and refined in its simplicity: a gorgeous melody, with anthemic chanting chorus once again, a strait-laced instrumental scaffold, crowned by a gallant axe solo that truly delivers the goods. A perfect set-up for the afore mentioned epic track that will blow your hair back without any gel, even if you have a bald head. During the eleven minutes of "the Outlandish Knight", this seasoned band takes the listener into a fairy tale like soundscape that reeks of medieval minstrels in the gallery, story telling by some gifted troubadour, supple flutes supplying the magical dust of which dreams are made of. The acoustic guitars and the ribald singing eventually launch into the heaviest armoured chevalier riff this side of Lancelot, Chris manhandling his rotund bass with vindictive valour, his synths emulating a volley of arrows arching down from the heavens, creating an almost apocalyptic crescendo. The subsequent ambient pastoral transition is celestial, a pure prog move that rekindles Trespass-era memories. The main melody is expressed on the piano, in a neo-classical format with flute as a loving companion, with Paul unleashing a glistening lead guitar flurry that is shockingly beautiful, string mellotron in tow. The urge to revert to birth is exclaimed with the original thunderous fretboard riff. Crimson waxed seal of approval.

Only a warm, suave ballad could possibly follow such a passion play spectacle, and "Belong" has all the serendipitous qualities an aching love song could possibly afford, a grandiose melody that is 'painful, honest and true'. Fretless bass, and sentimental violin heighten the sorrow to great effect, holding hands with a masterful vocal performance that should stand the test of time, as if there ever was a tune that should make the 'charts', its this one!

Head on out to a 'downtown bar', feeling footloose and fancy free, perhaps even get slightly drunk but its just defying fate and "Drinking with the Devil". The audacity to incorporate a mix of Aerosmith, the Allman Brothers (hint) and ZZ Top into a devilish and scandalous boogie woogie, watered down by some spice-a-delic single malt Scotch whiskey. The swirling organ smoking in the backroom, the rock n roll beat and that darn saxophone (Derek Nash) ablaze, could it get any better? Easily the best blues/rock tune heard this year!

Charlie makes a second appearance on "Who Goes There?", a pleading lament from a fearful sentry guarding the gates of sanity, where the lead and backing vocals swoon with wonderful delight, a whistling synth accosting a lead guitar venture that suddenly bursts into an explosive fireworks display of conviction. Is it a woman in white, or a woman in black? The grey spectre remains elusive, definitely not carnal. The instrumental playing is stoutly defiant, exhibiting valour and courage.

The mood remains forceful on "Parasite", a grinding, at times snarling ('A wolf in sheep's clothing'), and even spooky, as if lost in some gruesome cemetery when the ghosts search for a convenient host. Definitely Halloween-like in tone, like an English version of early Ange (Le Cimetière des Arlequins/Au Delà du Délire).

A rather rare event, this release ends with a second world-class ballad (coming up with even one, is praiseworthy) but "Redemption" is a triumphantly poignant melody, Paul's valiant voice and orchestral keyboards elevating the arrangement to glorious heights, underpinned by a respectfully forlorn and extensive guitar solo that exudes hurt, compassion, revelation and finally, liberation. The thrashing but controlled drumming is phenomenal, the ebb and flow haunting as the outro slowly vanishes into the ?haze.

The melodicism displayed is off the charts, ever single track being given a memorable sheen that only increases its polish with repeated listens. Experience, inspiration and craftsmanship can do that to a veteran band, refining their muse like fine wine.

Another enchanting work that will find its place in my top 10 albums of 2024. A must hear, a must have.

5 sandy shorelines