THE VIEWING POINT

This is THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND's third studio recording. It's an all-instrumental concept album about this man who drives out to this place (the viewing point) with his car and looks out over the water and thinks. It's a place he used to go to with his family but now he's alone. There's something about looking out over the water that's been there for thousands of years that brings some sort of stability and comfort to a life that can often be far from it. I live near a beach that's on a bay that goes as far as the eye can see. And while I haven't really done any thinking alone in my car like we have in this concept, I love being on the beach walking or running. It's my favourite place. I have to give this band a ton of credit not only for their musicianship but for the fact that all three albums have been different from one another, and they're all amazing. A very talented group of guys.

"Go..." opens with the sound of a car driving up before the guitar and beat take over.This is psychedelic and laid back. A fuller sound after 2 minutes before it settles into this FLOYD- like beat after 2 1/2 minutes. Organ joins in too. Mellotron around 5 minutes. I love the guitar, this is so uplifting. A powerful sound 6 minutes in. Amazing tune. "Sea Saw" does not sound like THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND at all. It opens with this drum led rhythm before it turns heavy a minute in. A calm follows. Mellotron 2 minutes in with piano. The sound starts to build with theremin. Great sound 4 1/2 minutes in as it changes again with guitar and drums leading the way. "The Cool Hard Truth" is a short but gorgeous sounding tune. It kicks in around a minute then settles to that earlier sound.

"Time Flies Like An Arrow" is spacey and psychedelic to start with a slow beat and mellotron. Guitar comes in. The tempo picks up after 3 minutes with bass, drums and organ leading. A calm before 9 minutes then it kicks in heavier than before. Mellotron follows as it settles to a lighter but more emotional section. Incredible track. "Rain Later, Good" opens with the sound of this man listening to the radio in his car. Strummed guitar and beat with vocal melodies follows. Sounds like flute late. "The Viewing Point" opens with spacey sounds as a beat and bass join in. A change 3 1/2 minutes in as the music fades and sound samples arrive of him in the car. A new soundscape comes in around 5 minutes. It kicks in after 6 minutes then settles quickly. These contrasts continue.

I still feel their debut is the best by far followed by the second one. This album is still a solid 4 star album but lacks the heaviness I like from their earlier albums. I do like how psychedelic it is though. "Sea Saw", "Rain Later, Good" and the title track haven't grown on me like the other songs, but the other tracks are just killer.

Three albums out into their career and The Future Kings of England yet again create something new - or rather old - in their carefully selected musical territory.

Yet again elements from folk music are blended with low-key, searching psychedelic guitar patterns, while organ and mellotron (or their replicated sounds from synths) serves up delightful, rich, warm textures in the back of the soundscape. Careful rhythms and wandering bass lines are added in, and with a few additional touces from synths and samples we're served 6 variations of these musical elements, produced and mixed in a distinctly 70's sounding lo-fi manner.

From the careful, brief mood pieces to shifting, majestic epics, this album goes from strength to strength, even touching upon a few moments of pure brilliance in the shape of The Cold Hard Truth and Time Flies Like An Arrow. If instrumental, psychedelic space rock with an early 70's sound is of interest, The Viewing Point is an album you should buy. Excellent album yet again from this band.

You need some cactus with that?

It is beyond me that this spectacular group from the UK isn´t getting more attention than they have. I mean these guys can play - and together to boot. With a love for old school mellotron n´ organ tapestries - and a certain garage feel to the guitars and rhythm section(The Sonics or early Pretty Things low fi production springs to mind), The Future Kings of England happen to stumble on two of my long loved things in music: the Chill and the Raw.

In waiting for their new album, I thought I might drop a few words on The Viewing Point, which was released in 2009. You could easily be fooled though, as the record sounds like it was made in the 70s. There´s been a huge amount of records released lately which tries to go back in time - fiddle with analog equipment, mic placement, live recording tracks and so forth, -and to tell you the truth: I love it. I don´t think the sounds created after the 80s and especially in the 90s brought anything new to the table - nothing that didn´t sound better a decade before. Well as long as the bands are making their own music - fishing for their own tunes in their own little oceans...

If you´re into Floyd ca 1970-71 - I promise you will love this album. It´s not that they copy or anything of that sort of nature, but more in the vein of elaborating on textures once uttered in swinging London. I guess it´s the guitars that, much like Gilmour, plays very slowly and soulful - treating the sounds as if they were both rhythm and solo together. I don´t know who is taking care of the lead licks here, but man he´s got some soul power and does have his own sound. More coarse and raspy at the edges, and if even possible slower than Gilmour.

Nearly every song here has some sort of melody filled moment, where the guitars works as a non verbal chorus. Just as well, because unlike their previous record who had sparse singing on it, this one is all instrumental. And speaking of the guitars - I sense a psychedelic post-rock approach in the underlying riffing, that, blended together with the other instruments - forms into something like those small ferocious mini-twisters that sends leaves twirling into the air like flying pyramids of nature´s own debris.

One of my favorite cuts on this album is "Sea Saw" that starts out with piano and some subdued guitar strumming - it builds and builds - and suddenly turns into this very emotional piece that sounds like one of the musicians is playing a saw with a violin bow, - and as Mellotron Storm says in his review - this song does not sound like TFKOE - except for the ending, where the guitars is back melting lava in your ears. Speaking of lava - the best melting rock you get from The Viewing Point is "Time flies like an Arrow". This number intertwine all the key aspects of the album: the slow sluggishly played drums - still keeping the beat though( and I love that [&*!#] - seems every other new prog drummer needs a brain in each extremity to maximize their poly rhythms, instead of pure feel), swaying ethereal guitar patterns, mellotron like sea-breezes and a walking bas thumbing away - tying things together down in the soil.

This is not their best album, but it sure made me smile outside in the rain not long ago. Felt like the waves of rain tuned into the music and started bombarding me to the rhythm, reminding me of the organic texture there is to these guys - everything seems to flow so effortlessly, much like a river. You can´t beat nature, but you can certainly accentuate and amplify the bugger.

This 2009 album was the third from the Suffolk instrumental outfit, featuring Ian Fitch (guitars), Karl Mallett (bass), Simon Green (drums) and producer Steve Mann (also keys). This album is one that is as rooted in psychedelic and space rock sounds as it is in progressive yet is so damn well played that anyone who likes even one of these genres will need to hear this. There are times when the mellotron is lush and gentle, with delicate piano set against it yet there are others when the guitars are dominating proceedings with ease. This is a band that can be gentle and reflective, or coarse and hard ? often all in the same song. It really does bring to mind some of the styles of prog that was coming out of Germany in the early Seventies with Amon Düül II being definitely front of mind.

This is music that definitely belongs to thirty years ago, but somehow is still invigorating and dynamic today ? a joy to listen to from start to end. www.backwaterrecords.com