THE SPIRIT OF AUTUMN PAST

Mostly Autumn's second album largely follows the lead of the first, with perhaps somewhat tighter songwriting and the departure of Kev Gibbons giving Angela Goldthorpe a chance to step up from guest musician to full band member, with her flute and whistle contributions as significant to the texture as Heather Findlay's vocals (which also seem to be called on a bit more than on the debut). Musically speaking, we're still dealing with a blend of neo-prog melodicism, folk influences and instrumentation, and a touch of Pink Floyd, though the Floyd angle is perhaps less overtly leaned on this time around as Mostly Autumn seem somewhat confident in being their own band with their own sound and leave their origins as a Floyd tribute act behind them.

Some of the earlier songs, more straightforward songs take a bit of getting used to, but closing epic The Gap Is Too Wide is lovely. By and large, I'd say that the album is more or less on the same standard as the debut, with perhaps a touch more polish and confidence.