SKY ARCHITECT: Nomad (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

It's not a billion years of loneliness that we had to endure to listen to a new album of the Dutch, but four long years of silence for Chris since his sublime "Days Of Summer Gone" as well as for Sky Architect. The news of the fourth album of the young and ever faithful quintet was therefore greeted with joy and a certain curiosity to hear what direction will be taken after the massive "A Billion Years Of Solitude".

From the punchy and jubilant introduction of the funky 'Wasteland', one can understand Sky Architect's eagerness to come back with new compositions. This very good start full of energy sets the tone for a more immediate and affordable record than the demanding 'A Billion Years Of Solitude' which was composed in a context of urgency incompatible with the total involvement of all the musicians. For "Nomad" it's a structured and collegial writing that stands out, keeping the essential and rejecting the superfluous. In what seems to be an aggiornamento, Sky Architect seems to have matured, especially in the way they consolidate the backbone of their compositions by adopting conventional song type formats, in which the jazzy and psychedelic 'Race To The Sun' is undoubtedly the most direct of "Nomad"'s pieces.

This is not to say that Sky Architect confines themselves to a certain caution or ease in "Nomad". On the contrary, the Dutchmen always masterfully exploit their fiery creativity on the occasion of richly dense instrumental moments that flood the whole album. They also confirm their mastery in installing contrasting ambiences, particularly striking in the two parts of 'Into Singularity', the sequence of jovial 'Nomad' and dark 'Dune' with their heart-rending melody, and the bewitching vapours of the second part of the heavy and overexcited 'Endless Roads'. As usual, the Dutch are working to sublimate their musicality with dynamic and subtle arrangements such as the melancholic trumpets of 'Endless Roads', the brass and choirs of 'Into Singularity' or the strings and piano of 'Nomad'.

Fans can be reassured that Sky Architect is true to itself in his ability to jostle the listener until he loses his balance, like the characters on his covers, in delicious unstable harmonic shifts like in the stunning 'Sandwalker', The album is a quintessential example of the Bataves' vintage progressive rock, or transcending the tracks through goose-bumps emotional climbs (the intense finale of 'Nomad', the second part of 'Endless Roads' and the slow ascent of 'Into Singularity Part II' carried by an expressive trumpet). If 'Nomad' deviates from the race to complexity that the band has been able to pursue until now, it is still part of a continuity by benefiting from the usual production, at the same time clear and raw, modern and reviving a certain past authenticity, which allows the link between the different opuses and gives a coherence to their discography.

"Nomad" is probably the most accessible of Sky Architect's albums, but it remains of very high quality and of a long-lasting interest. Regulars know that each Sky Architect album need to be listened to several times to be appreciated to its true value and "Nomad" is no exception to this rule. For the uninitiated, "Nomad" will be the ideal gateway to discover the solid discography of one of the most important bands of the new generation. - Official website

SKY ARCHITECT

NOMAD

BAD ELEPHANT MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE ROCK