II

This Finnish act led by keyboardist, vocalist and the main composer Matti Kervinen debuted in 2020, and finally the second album has been released. For starters, it's rather disappointing to see that the album length is only about 30 minutes, and that the violin of Elisa Heikkinen is narrowed down to only two tracks out of six. It was precisely the feature I liked so much on Aurora Borealis and what distinguishes Sunhillow from Kervinen's preceding band Pax Romana or his other projects.

This melancholic album is beautiful nevertheless. The opening song 'The Beast from the East' is a fine piece of pop-sensible prog, up to the strong chorus and Markus Väisänen's guitar solo. The lyrics contain the line "where's that simple human kindness" taken from the classic album Nuclear Nightclub which started WIGWAM's "deep pop" era in 1975. The newer Wigwam, especially the last albums from the 90's and 00's (Kervinen himself has worked on some of them), indeed are a central reference. 'The Circus and the Sea' is fairly good too. Three songs feature backing vocals of Jari Loisa who passed away during the album making and whom this album is dedicated to.

Instrumental 'Circus Outro' as a keys and violin duet is truly beautiful in its sadness. 'Meanwhile Between the Tides' is a longer instrumental (and the only track over six minutes) dedicated to the keyboard wizard Esa Kotilainen. These two deaths of dear colleagues and friends have understandably affected deeply to the album process. However, this fairly proggy piece is not melancholic. It has great Moog parts but in its jam-like spirit I'd compare it to DAVID GILMOUR's solo albums, as well as the closing instrumental 'Afternoon Tune' for the Gilmouresque guitar work of Pekka Hakkarainen. This is the other piece featuring the violin and an obvious highlight. The sincere little comfort song 'Gonna Get Better' in between the instrumentals makes me think of Lou Reed, of all artists, but that's mainly because of Kervinen's vocal style in it. The musical backing is of course more prog oriented than Reed's.

There is impressive sad serenity on this brief album. In my opinion the debut is a bit more rewarding, hence I'll round my 3½ stars downwards. Most of all I really miss more violin contribution here. But yes, definitely this is a beautiful and recommendable album of accessible, melodic Crossover Prog, and you'll surely like it if you have enjoyed Kervinen's bands.