MACHINE CALLED LIFE

A band of veteran Polish musicians return with their second prog album under the Let See Thin moniker--their first since the Pandemic.

1. "Story of My Life" (5:33) 1980s Roxy Music or early Simple Minds meets Steven Wilson. Great sound palette with an awesomely relentless rhythm track. (8.875/10)

2. "Divisions" (6:37) a pleasant enough start only gets better at 3:30 when the band pauses, slowly resets, and then slowly, deliberately builds a more satisfying motif--one that captures that same compelling relentlessness that the previous song benefitted from. Nice. (8.875/10)

3. "Sleeping on a Cloud" (6:46) a decent enough sound palette (which again reminds me of a 21st Century rendering of a Sparkle in the Rain-era Simple Minds song) just fails to deliver any hooks much less knock-out punches. (If the lyrics are the most important part of your offering here, I apologize for my obtuseness. (13.125/15)

4. "How" (4:50) more great modernized Simple Minds sounds, chords, and structures given enough 21st Century special effects and other tricks to make this song a rather enjoyable and even somewhat refreshing journey. Łukasz' voice is buried just perfectly within the thick walls of sound to make it palatable--the distracting effect of his accented pronunciation of the English notice hardly noticeable. Plus, they give the instrumental elements more attention (and volume) including an awesome heavily-reverbed piano beneath and in-between it all. (9/10)

5. "Would it Be?" (5:59) there's something about this song--it's heavy, modern Flock Of Seagulls sound palette, perhaps--that makes this song more engaging, interesting, and winning for me. The only weak part, in my opinion, is in the brief guitar solo in the middle of the fifth minute (the sound feels weak and ineffective in proportion to the power of the rest of the sonic field). I like the 'whisper-rap" thereafter and then the finale. I like the deep throb of the thick bass. (Is it doubled up by a synth--or MIDI-ed through a computer/synth to give it this sound?) The presence of the piano helps, as well. (9/10)

6. "Treadmill" (5:29) yet another song that feels as if it is rooted in the sounds and stylings of the 1980s techo/New Wave era of music but has been updated with heavy bass, heavy guitar semi-power chords, more broadly-amplified low-end of the drums, and a few more sound and engineering tricks and choices. The synths, however, are derived straight from sounds that emerged with the New Wave era. Again, the piano play helps a lot. Also the "bigger than life" drums--and great melodies (softer vocal delivery). (9.125/10)

7. "Sailors" (5:13) this updated 1980s tune doesn't quite make it all the way out of the 20th Century: too much Mark Hollis-like isolated piano chords and choppy-dance-like rhythmic features and a-Ha-like vocals (in the chorus)--more than a deep thrumming bass, hard-rock drums, and searing rock guitar can disguise. It's not bad; I was just hoping for more--like the last three. (8.75/10)

8. "Strange Neighbourhood" (3:51) with a spacious sonic field like this one Łukasz accented English pronunciation becomes a distraction for me. For me, this is similar in effect to when a choice of sound for a synth or electric guitar feels totally incongruous (or incompatible) with the rest of the instrumental sound palette. The song passes by and all I've been able to focus on is Łukasz' accent. (8.6667/10)

Total Time 44:18

Very solid, compelling music that is incredibly well-produced that suffers a bit from Łukasz Woszczyński accented English vocals. No disrespect intended, Łukasz: since my brain does not process spoken/sung words or lyrics (in any language) I just would have been happier to have heard you singing in your native tongue. Also, I have to beg difference of opinion with those who would assign this album to the NeoProg sub-genre: I see/hear more heavy prog, which, as we know, is more typical of the popular music produced in this 21st Century from a number of Polish artists (many of whom have also been designated with the NeoProg label

B/four stars; an excellent, eminently enjoyable album of interesting heavy progressive rock music. Check it out for yourselves: you may find yourself loving this. There's definitely consistently great atmosphere and mood here.

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