BELIEF

The Pennsylvania based Daniel Lewis Cupps aka Dan Solo (no relation to Han) and best known as GOOD NIGHTOWL has been cranking out his own brand of progressive indie rock since his 2011 debut "God Ate My Homework (I'm Dyslexic)" and has showcased not only a quirky sense of humor but a quirky sense of musicality as well. Existing somewhere between the prog indie rock of The Dear Hunter, Big Big Train and perhaps Porcupine Tree? Whatever the case i was smitten by 2020's "Liar" which caught me off guard and in a really receptive mood only to find the enthusiasm wasn't shared with heaps of negative ratings and reviews following!

Well now? as much as i meant to keep up with him to see if that album was a fluke or just something that caught me at the right time, my endeavors in checking out following albums didn't materialize just as GOOD NIGHTOWL became ridiculously prolific releasing three albums since. His latest BELIEF hit the market on New Year's Day 2024 and i'm making it a point to finally revisit this multi-instrumentalist one-man band to see if his sound still appeals to me. This album features 10 tracks at 44 1/2 minutes and displays a much more mature attitude since the earlier anarchic approaches to proggy indie rock.

This album still nurtures all those progressive indie pop styles along with some math pop and nerdy time signature workouts, but changes directions a bit from even the previous "Capital" by tacking the worlds of symphonic prog and jazz fusion. Atmospherically speaking BELIEF comes across as sort of a post-rock album with lush ambient backdrops accompanied by Cupps' sensual falsetto singing style. The humor is gone and this is serious business! Yes the vocals and atmospheres are the stars of this show but there are plenty of other instruments to be heard. The guitar takes on versatile duties with arpeggiated chords, proggy riffing sessions and basically rhythmic musical scaffolding. The drums pretty much dance to the rhythm with nothing flashy out of the norm yet with some tasty chops thrown in for good measure now and again.

The keys also play a prominent role, well of course they do if symphonic prog is mentioned, right? Well not only do they provide the synthesized counterpoint to the main melody but also appear in piano form and of course as dreamy ambient atmospheres that glaze the entire album's run. While the jazz fusion is prevalent in the compositional song structures, the sax only makes rare appearances (mostly on "Pretend To Know") and doesn't really stand out from the mix too much. The bass is a very integral part of the sound as well that is well placed in the mix. In fact the mixing of this album was done quite well and allows every instrument to exist in its own space however the vocals are set back a bit which makes it a bit muted by the instrumentation. This is an attribute common in extreme metal but not so much in the world of progressive pop. The music isn't overly complex but the spacing of the parts allows the maximum effect. Oh and don't forget the flute part on "The Exultant Natural State!"

The album pretty much follows the same playbook laid down on the first track, namely catchy albeit quirky indie pop hooks smothered with heaps of atmospheric presence, falsetto vocals (and sometimes normal vocals) trying to break into a Prince hit, murky guitar reverb and a busier than average percussive beat and everything is played by Mr GOOD NIGHTOWL himself! Well, whatever made me like "Liars" so much has clearly been abandoned in its entirety. This is a very serious indie pop album drawn out into more progressive compositions sounding something like something from the newer releases of Leprous only without Einar's golden vox box. This is certainly not a bad album and quite listenable. I love the quirky time signatures and the symphonic aspects are played quite well but i'm a bit adverse to these aerie fairy sounds where the atmospheres dominate all other aspects of the music. Descent but not something i'll find myself revisiting any time soon either.