THREEPHONIC

If you remember the 1970s, you might also recall how more than a year between projects of our favourites would call into question their continued viability. Not so now even among those rare artists actually signed to a "label", and certainly not among the majority of prog acts who are beholden to nobody but themselves and possibly their fans, given that many at this point either work for a living or are retired like a lot of us! Here is yet another sometime group, certainly better known than the pair I discussed recently but hardly household names. Formed in 1971 but first releasing in 1983, these Argentinians ended their second 15+ year absence in 2016 with "Threephonic", apparently a reference to their distillation as a trio, sacrificing the twin keyboards approach but remaining as key oriented as ever.

A year after these recordings were completed in 2004, Jorge Antun passed away, which might be partly responsible for the delay of over a decade in their release. What's baffling is how this sounds more 1980s than their 1980s work, and even more surprising is that, while it will never challenge their debut as a career pinnacle, it remains moored to the facets that anchor their legacy: rich romantic vocals, melodic keys, and occasional guitar flourishes. It all starts unconvincingly with "La Marcha Del Regreso" like so much bombast lacking conviction, while "Pasion" could have come from 14 BIS. It begins to build momentum with "Entre El Bien Y El Mal" and hits stride for the following 3 numbers, perhaps the best being the one that sounds most like the 1980s, the percussive reggae-ish "Los Cielos De Irak" offset by FRIPP styled leads, because I think this is where PABLO truly was at the time these tunes were compiled. Finale "Clave De Sol" closes the chapter most elegantly.

Since José Maria Blanc issued a solo work in 2018, it is likely that "Threephonic" will remain PABLO's final gift, but we might have to wait at least 12 years to be sure!