SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM

Berlin-based proggers who've been around since 2015 are back with their third studio album.

1. "Memories in a Box" (9:05) perfectly formed prog rock from very proficient musicians, the song however falters (until that beautiful female vocal at the end) by being too much "prog-by-the numbers."(17.5/20)

2. "Changes Are Coming (The Companion)" (5:15) two minutes of painstakingly emotional singing (à la SYLVAN's Marco Glühmann) over simple, sparse musical support. Drums and bass join in for the second verse before a very emotional (and effective) guitar solo dominates the fourth minute. I also like the more delicate guitar solo that takes us to the song's end. (8.75/10)

3. "Thoughts" (7:42) excellent, well-developed, creatively fresh prog even if it is a little close to a RUSH-PORCUPINE TREE merger. (13.75/15)

4. "The Encounter" (7:13) strummed guitars and delicate cymbal play provide the backdrop for male and female vocal duet--constructed as a kind of conversation. Unfortunately, the sound palette used is based in a lot of now-outdated sound and engineering choices (what I often refer to as "cheap 90s keyboards" and "early DIY production tools"). The result is, unfortunately, a NeoProg sound of the type that imitates the music of 1980s form of the band GENESIS (or, more accurately, the imitators of said band's sound--like Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon, Aragon, Galadriel, etc.) At 2:30 begins the display of underwhelming drum fills on the toms. I'm cringing--actually embarrassed for the band! Still, the keyboard player is doing a great job of holding things together with bass pedals and lots of Mellotron-like synth "strings" washes. The presence of the guitar arpeggi and 12-string guitar are also quite warm and welcome.Even the interplay between electric guitar chord strums and bass in the sixth minute are okay--it's just those toms! Then we get the real star of this band: the lead electric guitar. I don't know if t's Johnny Beck or Ingo Salzmann but the player has some real talent--not only skill but that intangible sense of timing and melody that makes a great lead soloist. (13.25/15)

5. "Shifted" (4:58) another softer, slower, more delicate songscape (with recorder!) set up to host the female vocalist, Isgaard. The song--and Isgaard's style and performance--remind me very much of Emila Derkowska (Nazaruk) of the Polish band QUIDAM--especially of those from their 1996 self-titled debut album--even down to Emila's Clare Torrey vocalise in the final third. (8.875/10)

6. "Inhale What's Forbidden" (8:35) back to the male-female conversation format--again over a fairly tame (but respectable) prog weave. The lushly "orchestrated" keyboards tend to drown out the rest of the soundscape during the choruses. Nice work from Isgaard and the bass throughout. The drums are up to speed and the guitar work solid. Too bad those keys are dated. After a little pause for some recorded voice samples the band slips easily into an excellent PORCUPINE TREE passage to take us to the end. Nice NeoProg music. (18/20)

7. "Keep My Faith in Humans" (6:28) the song that reveals the Emperor's real clothes: the band's true strengths (melodic sense, heart-felt lyrics and performances) as well as its true weaknesses (poor drumming, poor song "finishing"); herein are contained some of the album's absolute highest points as well as its lowest (which makes it a difficult song to rate). The instrumental passage in the second half of the song is another wonderful merger of PORCUPINE TREE as if from a RUSH perspective. It could've been a 10/10 masterpiece. (9/10)

8. "Distorted Night" (2:56) weird fast-paced song that feels like filler--as if the band had a little section of a studio jam that they were quite proud of and so decided to edit it and include it on the album. It's okay. (4.3333/5 )

9. "Event Horizon" (7:26) an okay song over which are the usual nice displays of guitar talent. (13/15)

Total Time 59:38

After multiple listens to this album, I'm really torn. There's real talent here--and real heart--as well as a very gifted lead guitarist. But the music is a bit too conservative and the musicianship inconsistent (the band members need to keep working on their skills.) The compositional proficiency is also inconsistent as there are glimmers of absolute genius but too often the inventive ideas are either feeling "unfinished" and then the rest of the music is dull, formulaic, generic, "prog-by-numbers." But I am so impressed by those moments of genius that I will be an avid follower of this band's work in their future--a future, by the way, that I think is super bright.

B/four stars; a very nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--one that has flaws but that is also inspired with some awesome, magical highs.

Quite amazing what a SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM is capable of. Hahaha, sorry, couldn't resist to place that silly joke at the very start. This is the new album produced by multi-instrumentalist, composer and audio engineer Jens Lueck from Hamburg by using this moniker. Going into round three now he's continuing the adventurous story about Barnaby and a TV GirI named Tella. 'Event Horizon' is consisting of nine songs, and was recorded by a real crew of eight musicians in total. Means, he has the hat on here, but it's not a strict solo album anyhow, not a one-man show. A big plus in general. Undoubtedly you will hear that Lueck bears the prog in his DNA quasi. Stylistically seen they are providing a blend of neo and art rock, including superb male and female vocals, touching melodies and harmonies, fine instrumentation. And partially equipped with a rather tricky execution (exemplarily take care of the drumming please).

Memories In A Box initiates the song collection, just an album highlight due to its non predictable behaviour. This is followed by the more accessible acoustic piano and guitar dominated ballad Changes Are Coming (The Companion). Actually this song couple goes representative for an alternating flow on 'Event Horizon' in general. Again those fine female vocal contributions are coming from Isgaard. Can't imagine who could make it better, just when it comes to my album favourite Inhale What's Forbidden for example. Also great dynamics and a wonderful diversified guitar presence on top regarding this excerpt. The awesome title track closes this chapter of the series, let's see what comes next. My summary: a top-notch progressive rock album, I would say the project's masterpiece, so far at least.

The story of BARNABY and the TV girl continues............This is how Jens LUECK chose to present to us the third album of SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM "Event Horizon", his pseudonym as a solo artist outside his usual and better known formation SYRINX CALL.

A brief summary of the story: Tella (the TV girl) settled in a self-organized community outside the state-controlled areas. After many conversations with the other residents, she finally found this who she missed in state society, she feels at home in the community and has a special relationship with one of the pirates who was very involved in her early escape. She expresses a desire to meet Barnaby, while the pirate is torn between two feelings, happiness and fear, his personal relationship with Tella not to be mentioned. I let you consult the inside of the booklet for more details, let's move on to the music.

The faithful already present in the two previous opuses are always on the bridge, with ISGAARD (companion of Jens in the city) more involved in the whole of the work, which could have been lacking before, she illuminates with her diaphanous voice many passages of this "Event Horizon", concept album of course so as always in these cases difficult to detach a title rather than another.

The inaugural title "Memories in a Box" takes us back to the previous album in its spirit and in its melodic framework, to stay in GERMANY not far from the softest CRYSTAL PALACE (9/10) with the sublime vocals of Isgaard and the no less sublime guitar solo by Johnny BECK, "Changes are Coming" of a very floydian inspiration, is magnified by the acoustic guitar of Jürgen OSUCHOWSKI, an instrument not used enough in progressive music today. today and Johnny BECK's electric one again (9/10)). "Thoughts" more energetic, more complex but also more airy, here the six strings is held by Ingo SALZMANN, would be closer to an IQ (the voices and the guitar), good piece but the one I like the least on the whole work (7/10).

The vocal duo of Isgaard and Jens backs "The Encounter" (Isgaard and Barnaby), a quiet track overall, Jurgen's and Johnny's guitars pulling it up again (8/10) before the most collected and soft "Shifted" one of the two titles where Volker KUINKE the accomplice of SYRINX CALL intervenes, moment of musical happiness sung by Isgaard (8/10) which ends with a sumptuous finale, too short for my taste... .."Inhale What's Forbidden" is lit by the fairy Isgaard while Ingo SALZMANN delivers a high-level guitar score with a remarkable final theme, my favorite track from this "Event Horizon" (10/10).

We arrive slowly in the last quarter of the album with "Keep My Faith in Humans" of easy translation which represents a powerful wish not easy to set up, another calm piece, posed with the six floydian strings of Johnny BECK, the delicate piano by Jens and Volker's second appearance on the flutials, a pretty canvas well in tune with the story (9/10). "Distorded Night" is aptly named, somewhat distorted instrumental (7/10) stride...

We close with the eponymous place "Event Horizon", introduction to the acoustic guitar, the calm voice of Jens, for a soft melody which flies away little by little towards a high quality symphonic progressive, the two six electric rope players giving each other the replica, mixed with slightly oriental keyboard swirls, a superb piece (10/10). We are only at the beginning of March but this opus by SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM is laying its groundwork for an end-of- year podium.

"Percipio Ergo Sum" (I understand you) is the second solo effort of German musician and producer Jens LUECK best known for being the mentor of SYRINX CALL mainly. His personal project is called SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM, this is his second album, the first "Splinter In The Eye" released in 2017 went completely unnoticed by my radar (and many others...) showed a strong influence of the progressive music of the seventies, the golden age as we call it regularly and historically in our pages and elsewhere.

Jens LUECK offers us a tasty mix of progressive mini epics and more affordable titles for the uninitiated, two tracks exceed eight minutes while seven display between four and six minutes. The overall musical quality of the whole is significant and Volker KUINKE, the star flutist of SYRINX CALL, only intervenes on one title, so there is no risk of duplication in terms of interpretation.

"She's Awake" the inaugural title is a melodic pearl in the first sense which starts on the piano (with some female vocals by Isgaard MARKE) followed by a gradual rise in the form of layers of synthesizers before the flamboyant guitar of Ingo SALZMANN ignites the finale of the piece, one of the great successes of the album (9/10), that's a good omen. I talked about mini epics, here is the first of the two, "The Final Door" led by a play of drums and voluble percussion, embellished by slightly veiled but very pleasant vocals, a double guitarized, acoustic piece (Jürgen OSUCHOWSKI) and electric (Johnny BECK), the great timeless progressive that every supporter must appreciate, great art (10/10).

"I'd Like To See", a calm opening title, even hovering, lit by Katja FLINTSCH's violin, could be a hit on the radio if our current generalist media were willing to take the trouble to broadcast progressive music (8/10) while that "Ride on a Ray" after a piano introduction of the most beautiful effect, is moving more towards alternative rock (OASIS and its most progressive titles are not far away), with an excellent six-string solo (by Ingo SALZMANN) in its second part (8/10).

The three following titles have in common their duration, between six and seven minutes, and whoever says more extended inevitably says more prog, from the more Gilmourian than Floydian ballad "Doubts" (8/10) passing through the energetic and catchy "Save Me From Dreaming" (9/10) sung in two voices, male (Jens himself) and female (Isgaard MARKE, also his companion in everyday life) to end up almost metallic (in his second half) "I'm Not Human" (9/10), the triptych of these appears as one of the strengths of the album.

"Hey You" doesn't have much to do with the sensational title of the same name, proposed by four famous Britons more than thirty years ago, I thought I heard more of SYLVAN or CRYSTAL PALACE to stay in GERMANY and more recently (8/10), a pleasant range with the addition in the final part of classical instrumentation (Katja FLINTSCH on violin and viola and Olek BAKKI on the lowest cello) which reveals its richness over time after multiple listenings.

The short, posed and dreamy "Humble" sung by Isgaard (7/10) is the obligatory passage to the second fresco of the work "Entanglement Runs" (10/10) a powerfully progressive firework if ever there was one, main reason why we appreciate musicians and their music! who sail in the progressive sphere (I have just named CRYSTAL PALACE, here is a piece that is very similar to it, whether for guitars or synthesizers...). The concluding and bucolic "In hale The Dark" is a simple piano/voice (double) which allows us a soft landing, it's not really my "thing", probably just a question of sensitivity (7/10), however, we are not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Let's finish our analysis with the story itself, "PERCIPIO ERGO SUM" is the conceptual continuation of "SPLINTER IN THE EYE", two entities are present BARNABY and the girl from the TV. He is the creator of a bizarre experiment (raising a human in an isolated space with no opening to the outside, our world) his credo is COGITO ERGO SUM (DESCARTES I think therefore I am) while SHE knows nothing about him and her philosophy is different PERCIPIO ERGO SUM (I perceive therefore I am) for her everything is linked, everything interacts and it is impossible to isolate a person or a process.

A big thank you to Jens LUECK for his help in understanding the story, we will be waiting impatiently and curiously for the third part... In 2025? In the immediate future, I urge you to make room not far from the zenith for SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM.

SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM is the project of multi-instrumentalist, producer Jens LUECK (SYRINX CALL) composing in the progressive universe ranging from ABBA, Pat METHENY, APP, ELOY, SUPERTRAMP, in particular the progressive rock / art-rock scene of the 70s like PINK FLOYD, GENESIS see CAMEL; in short, the world of dinos with an updated theme.

"She's Awake" prevailing atmosphere with introduction to the piano and her soft, crescendo female voice; tablecloths of synths, organ, drums and vocals then the electric guitar for a melodic prog. Delicate, floydian and light "The Final Door" with a folk feel. The melodic line is one of the best of the album with a delightful SYLVAN'S solo; the keyboards also take on GENESIS for a title all in subtlety. "Id Like To See" continues with a voice and a Floydian guitar on ethereal keyboards. A throbbing rhythm, invigorating Jens singing, a Harvestian atmosphere mixing synths-piano and guitars. "Ride On A Ray" for classic and modern prog-rock combining the rhythm and the sweetness of the ballad with the heavy atmosphere. "Doubts" continues on a more nervous and electric rhythm.

"Save Me From Dreaming" follows, Isgaard muffled with his voice and breaks associating strength and melody, a bit à la AYREON. "I'm Not Human" always Isgaard singing, a sensitive ballad at the start, the gradual flight merges with a nervous and sustained rhythm, BASTIAN PER in a musical echo. "HeyYou" gives a great musical variety, softness at the start, synth-vocals rise for a progressive melody with a powerful chorus. "Humble" musical interlude, Isgaard's fairy voice, overwhelming and hypnotizing melody. "Entanglement Runs" epic nine-minute track; mounted with tablecloths synths then the instruments are stalled with the voice for the typical chorus; variation and progression make it an evolving centerpiece; final in two stages as if to better establish the time that has stopped. "In hale The Dark" intimate final with piano and vocal duo Isgaard and Jens; an emotional ballad a la 'The Wall'.

Jens released an album that baffles, a progressive Teutonic melodic sweetness. Singular titles whose musical background makes them follow one another like a concept album. Songs that do not lose you in long meanders as one could from time to time, a SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM which delights me after the release of the last SYRINX CALL at the beginning of the year.