GIANT SKY

This Norwegian band of newcomers' debut release in 2021 was one of my top 5 favorite albums for that year. Led by SOUP founder/leader, Erlend Aastad Viken, they return with more of the same sound--69 minutes of it--on this, their sophomore release.

CD1: 1. "Origin Of The Species (Part 1-6)" (2:19) a little murky even if it is supposed to represent God's first six days of Creation. (4/5)

2. "Imposter" (4:23) strumming acoustic guitars and unfiltered snare hits give the start of this one a MOTORPSYCHO/THE AMAZING feel. The presence of Marina Skanche's female vocals in the "B" part is nice--a nice counterbalance to the fuzzy-frenzied "A" part. Interesting. But feeling rushed or unfinished. (8.75/10)

3. "Speak Through Walls" (7:21) two female vocalists presenting a psych folk front. This is nice in a Damon Waitkus or Hands Of The Heron way. Room-miked upright piano takes over in the third minute with flutes and tuned percussives helping out (no vocals). At 3:20 female vocals rejoin as church organ bass pedals accompany. Violins supplant vocals in fifth minute before pulsing scratchy guitar, drum and bass rhythm tracks take over. Does Erlend consciously intend for the sound quality of these songs to be so scratchy and murky? If so, very weird. Near-screaming male vocal enters in the seventh minute to make some point to the song's rather abrupt finish. Nice first half; disappointing second. (13.25/15)

4. "Space Farrier" (6:08) a kind of space-techno neo-electronic instrumental reminiscent of some of the extended jams of the band's debut album though in a higher octave range. (8.7/10)

5. "The Present" (3:38) spacey formless electronica over which, eventually, in the third minute, a recording of Eckhart Tolle speaking is played. The importance of staying present. (8.4/10)

6. "To The Pensieve" (5:53) piano, synths, and dirge-like drum beat over which Erlend and marina sing. A rather dull vocal over some rather unexciting music. More Sigur Rós or Coldplay or Jack O' The Clock or Bon Iver than prog. (4.666667/10)

7. "Dispatch of Species" (2:58) like something from Hans Zimmer's Interstellar soundtrack: the soundtrack to a wordless funereal montage. (4/5)

CD2: 8. "Curbing Lights" (2:00) like an intro or overture to a cheap sci-fi series on Syfy. Not engineered very well. (4.25/5)

9. "I Am The Night" (10:21) pretty but sounds too much like their album from last years. Nice instrumental passage in the fourth, fifth, and sixth minutes with multiple instruments providing gorgeously beautiful threads to the weave, but then it's all destroyed at 5:34 by a sustained crash of chaos, distortion, and dissonance that lasts for two painful minutes. The slowly ebbing sound of post-apocalyptic decay lasts for another minute before a solo "Sunshine Superman"-like solo bass line enters. 20-seconds later some SIGUR RÓS-like reverse strings joins in, swamping the bass and coercing it into becoming a cello as electric piano single notes notes and reverse-vocals take us out. Despite the great two minutes, this song is just too jagged and An interesting listening experience but nothing I'll return to unless I want to play it for someone else as an example of a cinematic expression of the Apocalypse or going though a blackhole. (17.5/20)

10. "Birds With Borders" (7:04) more folk-feeling acoustic guitar-founded music that sounds like something off of one of Damon Waitkus' JACK O' THE CLOCK albums. Erlend and Charlotte Stav take turns with the vocals, solo Erlend alternating with collective-choral approach, over and over, throughout the song, giving it a very BON IVER feel. Synths and Marina 's erhu provide interesting support during the choral sections. An extended lone acoustic guitar section in the fifth minute is culminated with 4:30 the burst of full rock band with chorus vocals which is then followed by flute and synth solos over the expanded rock BON IVER/ARCADE FIRE-like music. Nice. I like the sparse sections. The choral vocal and expanded band sections again feel murky/overloaded. (13.3333/15)

11. "Tables Turn" (6:18) opens with full band exposing their intentions, but then everything steps back to leave piano and chorus to present the song in its lyrical form. At 1:52 Erlend steps up to lead a full-band counterpoint to the previous perspective established by the mostly female chorus. Again I am reminded of the quirky music of ARCADE FIRE circa 2004. (I honestly don't know any of their music from the last 19 years.) An extended mostly-instrumental section of scattered, spacey strings and synths ensues, kind of capped off by Erlend's attempt at more persuasion. Very interesting. (8.875/10)

12. "King In Yellow" (3:53) acoustic guitars (and heavily-treated drum kit) with destabilized synth soloing over the top. We heard this tactic (to perfection) on the precious album. Here everything feels a bit out synch with so many differing yet-dramatic effects being employed (or not) on each and every one of the other instruments. It kind of feels as if 1970s Richard Wright, 1960s Syd Barrett, and 1940s Roy Haynes were all jamming together. (8.75/10)

13. "Seeds" (6:48) very gentle piano-based duet between Erlend and Marina Skanche that sounds remarkably like MEW's 2003 classic, "Symmetry." The other instruments that are very gradually added to the soundscape are very effective, very At 3:27 the unstable chorused- and delayed-synth saw enters and pretty much dominates as some kind of Shields distortion clouds up the background to simulate the roar of a rocket launch as heard from ground zero. Too bad. I really wish I understood Erlend's intentions when murking up all of these soundscapes with the static-distortion he keeps using. (13/15)

Total: 68'54''

This album brings me to present the case that perhaps side-project bands should be rare and otherwise their sound can become pigeon-holed, predictable, and monotonous. To my mind, this album is nowhere near as cohesive and polished as the previous one. On the contrary, the tracks of heavily distorted sounds employed on almost every song here render much of the music here as scratchy, murky, or outright cacophonous and acrid.

B-/3.5 stars; a disappointing, less proggy, more art-indie rock collection of songs that will please some prog lovers while grate and disenchant others. Good luck finding your joy!

2nd double album.

CD1: "Origin Of The Species (Part 1-6)" solemn symphonic space opener launching "Imposter" with their characteristic, cold, moving, bucolic sound; hold an organ with Marina one of the 3 female voices; one-shot post- rock explosion with thunderous screams reminiscent of SIGUR ROS, for those who only know SOUP; aerial atmosphere for a typical intoxicating and psychedelic solo. "Speak Through Walls" with Hanne and Charlotte on vocals over a minimalist guitar arpeggio; flute of ancient times yes on the Archangel; a melancholic symphonic orchestral variation... of great beauty with tearful violins before the psyche break of the 2030s, maddening cinematic vibrating guitar; Erlend shouts, dark for a Dantesque finale. "Space Farrier" arpeggiates over creation, no less; flute, piano by Ivan and Jonas, synths on Jean-Michel JARRE; well we're going to put on our well-shod boots to wander through the cosmos, an interlude as only Erlend knows how to do, fresh and beautiful in the end who sends "The Present" to settle down from this grandiose escapade; still hovering and a voice-over in the distance. "To The Pensieve" piano and monolithic voice for the seemingly basic title; yes but a few moments later we find ourselves on the rings of a planet spinning at full speed, that's what GIANT SKY is beautiful, astonishing, musically progressive in the firmament. "Dispatch of Species" comes in for the finale with a church organ.

CD2: "Curbing Lights" intro to the second album on a cinematic background, video games, quite rhythmic, still electronic, less intimate, like an opening for "I Am The Night" facsimile of 'Space Farrier' at the start; most of all this musical fluidity on these angelic female voices, sirens from another time; and then there is a climb, one more but on another slope and Nirvana is there in front of you; this crescendic musical explosion makes you melt; the break with metronomic bass brings you back to earth before a surge of Olympian violins makes you shiver, bells, unstructured waves which form a major title with inverted voices. "Birds With Borders" for an intimate melancholy melody, the one you want to keep to yourself; strings, a flute and the schizoid rise made of noises which collide and create the melody, the voices forward guided by the notes; the flute guides you to your left cerebellum the one who thinks that this album is already exceptional. "Tables Turn" with Hans as the sole male voice over a playful dreamlike mid-tempo; the electro-ambient and latent mid-term break on a psychedelic PINK FLOYD, Erlend with his voice which blends with that of Jón from SIGUR ROS, perfection is there; the vibrant ultra-bass outro. "King In Yellow" with this sound of Megaptera and other deities who will save our planet, go review Star Trek; instrumental track torturing your mind, yes GIANT SKY is beyond music. "Seeds" as a Wallian finale, after the crash against the wall; a spatial, cinematic ballad, about an apocalyptic New York 1997 from which the world will not recover, about a new world having understood which side to be on so as not to fall from the branch, choose.

Giant Sky are a side-project created by Soup keyboard player Erlend Viken (here working in a multi-instrumentalist role) and they released this their debut album in the middle of last year. Now, I notice this has been getting some rave reviews in different places, yet to my ears it is somewhat bland, and in opening number "The Further We Go the Deeper It Gets" there are so many Pink Floyd keyboard sounds that it gets somewhat embarrassing. With different singers and drummers on different tracks, this has very much a project feel about it as opposed to a proper band, and suffers for that. There is a lack of continuity within the different songs, so while the opener is Floyd, "Broken Stone" is very much Mike Oldfield, and then the short "Interlude" is more of a classical duet with piano and flute. I am not sure what it is trying to achieve as it meanders with little in the way of direction.

By now I was halfway through the album, and not really looking forward to the second half, and while different ideas were brought forward, for me they just never gelled as they should. The drum section during "No Cancelling This" is not only clumsy but the sound is somewhat muffled and never gets the cut through one would expect. This album has all the issues one can sometimes get with a multi-instrumentalist solo project in that no-one is going to provide clear commentary to the band leader, and consequently the result is something which is undoubtedly clever with good musicianship but never has the clarity and direction one wants. "Out of Swords" starts with promise, with some wonderfully delicate guitar and vocals, but yet again falls away.

As I said earlier, this has been getting plenty of rave reviews, but it would be boring if we all heard music in the same way, as otherwise we would all be listening to Beyonce or Justin Bieber. A nice production is probably the best thing I can say about this (plus it isn't Beyonce or Justin Bieber, which really is a bonus in my book).

Thanks to the up-with-the-times members of ProgArchives, I am made aware of yet another new band from Norway! And I am SO GLAD for it!

1. "The Further We Go the Deeper It Gets (Parts 1-6)" (12:04) One damned fine prog epic--very Pink Floyd like with a more modern pop/psych-electronica sound palette. Great use of female vocals (Myrtoula Røe and Charlotte Stave) and extra percussion. As pleasant as the first third is, the instrumental middle section is pure prog heaven. The final third starts with quite a shift in musical style and sound palette: moving more into the realm of techno-pop or even 1970/80s New Age keyboard/computer sequencing, over which Myrtoula and Charlotte sing. When the vocals get flanged and the bass line drops down and thickens, the ride just gets better--like the best Tangerine Dream jam from their Thief-era music. Awesome! One of my favorite prog epics of 2021. (24/25)

2. "Broken Stone" (9:45) mellow, simple, pretty, with Popcorn computer percussives and female b vox. Really doesn't do much--even in the ARCADE FIRE-like final two and a half minutes. (16.75/20)

3. "Interlude (I Don't Know What You Think of Me but It's Wrong)" (1:31) nice classical-sounding flute and practice/dance hall piano duet. (4.25/5)

4. "No Cancelling This" (5:47) opens using a sequenced Berlin School foundation beneath Erlend Viken ("Eav")'s emotion-packed vocal. In fact, I question whether or not he sings with more passion than expected ? or warranted? The section in which the drums pound away is a bit clumsy--overly flanged and feeling somehow mistimed. The flute and plucked strings/piano section is pretty--and continues nicely to embellish the melody and mood of the previous sections. (8.5/10)

5. "Out of Swords" (8:42) delicate acoustic guitar folk start. This one reminds me of England's GRAVENHURST--the music of the late, great vocalist/songwriter Nick Talbot. Though this song is unarguably gorgeous, the Gravenhurst comparisons are too stark: they conjure up too much pain and sadness for the loss of the late genius' amazing talents. (His 2012 album The Ghost in Daylight is one of my 10 favorite Indie-Folk albums of the 2010s.) Still, the conveyance of empathetic heartbreak and sorrow is masterful and appreciated. I like the theatric production of the final two minutes with the DAMON WAITKUS-like effected vocals and glockenspiel play. (18.5/20)

6. "The Further We Go the Deeper It Gets (Part 7)" (2:54) apparently this is an addendum to the album's opening song. Very spacey with vocalist Marine Skanche's heavily treated vocalise. Could come from a Vangelis or Tangerine Dream soundtrack album. The Berlin School-like rhythms (for the next song) even start in the last minute, adding to this TD effect. (4.75/5) 7. "Breaking Patterns" (7:55) with vocals and guitars revealing themselves within the foundation of the bleed-over from the previous song, there's a lot of MOTORPSYCHO (and Arcade Fire) in this song (the more delicate, acoustic side to those two bands). At 1:45 we launch into the full spectrum of the music as drums and electronic power chords join in with the flute becoming the lead. The vocals that then take over are quite impassioned yet frail of voice--not unlike the lead singer for Arcade Fire, Win Butler. Over the next few minutes I hear strains of Arcade Fire, Tangerine Dream, Mike + The Mechanics ("In the Living Years"), Motorpsycho, Genesis (bass pedal sounds/hits), and even something in the sound engineering that feels like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Cool acoustic guitar outro! (An homage to David Bowie?) Nice tune. (13.5/15)

Total Time 48:38

I have to admit to liking this Indie-Prog Pop album quite a little--my reactions are more like how I like Arcade Fire than King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard--the two bands that come to mind the most when I listen to this. I also am surprised by how much I like the fairly-isolated and pure-sounding flute on this album--and by how electro-pop the instrument/sound choices are. Very refreshing! Also, I really like Erlend's humility and sensitivity: they feel totally geniune and beautifully human.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece; a refreshing album of crossover prog that I highly recommend for any and all prog lovers.

GIANT SKY is the project of Erlend Aastad VIKEN, founding keyboardist of SOUP. So an ersatz or an outline of pure creation for this outstanding musician, an encore repetita of the "soupienne" atmosphere itself taking its foundations on SIGUR ROS, this is what we are going to try to see. A text based on the biblical book of the Preacher and a prayer from Pope Francis, we are dealing with uncompromising rock art, film soundtrack music for soaring and intimate night reverie; let's dive.

"The Further We Go The Deeper It Gets Pt. 1-6", twirling intro to SOUP, not to their father the great SIGUR ROS for this dreamlike and whirling sound; 6 planing, relaxing parts, the moog synth or not, modal, finally psychedelic of EAV (it's shorter), associated with the soft voice of Myrtoula Røe in successive waves; divine, enchanting, come on that sends me back to MOTORPSYCHO and its vintage synth hacks. Well, the 70's station wagon just 6 minutes away confirms me and transports us to a new bucolic universe, groovy and sidereal making space rock explosive with its distorted guitars until the minimalist final. "Broken Stone" arrives very delicately, EAV sings divinely, which SOUP lacked, the orchestration with guitar and echoed viola create a Génésienne atmosphere worthy of an archaic 'Trespass' of the most beautiful effect;it feels like the beginning of everything, mind blowing.

The title of the album that gives you goosebumps, that leaves you speechless, a columnist friend would put 11/10 here! This ersatz SIGUR ROS for childish sound effects suddenly gives way to the contribution of explosive percussions, with a lively scratchy voice, Dantesque; final house which denotes, just to test your speakers. Giant. "Interlude" for the piano-flute melody coming from up there, near Him for a divine bucolic sensation, still a purity.

"No Canceling This" then appears on a monolithic synth base, flute and voice in a melancholy raw state, spleen arrives with the female voices; the explosion that we guessed occurs, splashing drums, sustained electronic sounds, it even screams; return of the basic piano and the layers of keyboards which enclose in this melancholic universe of all beauty. "Out Of Swords" on a dark acoustic arpeggio, breathy celestial voices, a violin adds to it; binary melodic tenderness going towards infinity, plaintive guitar of the first convulsions of HACKETT; EAV does almost everything and very well, the dreamlike feeling is perfect with the arrival of a real church organ (here I am melting) touching the most irreducible proguist; the piano with 3 wooden keys adds even more with this bluffing tingel sound and these voices coming from nowhere,taped.

"The Further We Go The Deeper It Gets Pt. 7" for the end of the title and reminder of archaic sounds of SIGUR ROS, you know the ambient sounds coming from Creation; soaring, ethereal, concentrated genesis, scary atonal sounds, fallen angels to take you even higher before being reborn afterwards; the tribal drums of 'Passion' revive you from that limbo where you were lost to bring you to 'Breaking Patterns' and that bass to the inaugural 'The Wall'; drums and flutes come out of their lair and join the synthesized electronic sounds for an orgasmic, colorful, enchanting title, redemption and quintessence; it's dreamlike, a little orchestral break allows you to finally land this long prog journey, the flute adds a layer; acoustic final to land,the flute reminds you that you have gone very far and the decrescendo occurs; a reminiscence emerges, oh that's it, it's really over.

GIANT SKY hit hard by offering subtle music, a post-rock journey, beautiful musical art; it is atmospheric, intoxicating, ambient, melancholic, leading to reverie, classical instruments raise the developed sounds even more. An album apart with less crescendos like on SOUP, an album that aspires to contemplation, to navigation in your own brain to derive absolute musical peace. Be careful, this music bewitches more and more as you listen to it, a must.