DISTRICT 97: Screens (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

After a period of stability that lasted three albums and one live, District 97 renewed its line-up with the arrival of a new keyboardist and a new bassist. The quintet still evolves in a rather fusion style, mixing jazzy and even soul tones with metal features for a music that moves away from stereotypes.

The musical execution of "Screens" is of an extreme precision: obviously everything has been thought, weighed, matured for a rendering as accurate as possible. The punctuality of the drums, the rigour of the bass lines (with a small dedicated solo in 'Forest Fire' as a bonus), the finesse of the keyboard arrangements - often in the background - show an indisputable technical mastery.

As far as the compositions are concerned, there is a clear will not to fit into the usual moulds: the guitar riffs can be sharp, the keyboards are very pleasant (the intro of 'Sheep', mellow), the tone breaks are numerous ('Shapeshifter'), but there are few melodic lines, nor any striking instrumentals: District 97 is not easily accessible, and this lack of endearing melodies, this refusal of a consensual melodic line, are penalizing in the long run, despite all the technical qualities we can recognize in the ensemble. The music takes on a very intellectual tone in these assemblages which finally sound rather artificial, because they are too thoughtful, lacking spontaneity.

Leslie Hunt's voice reigns on the whole, from the famous TV show "The Voice". She has the markers requested by this television institution: vocal power ("she sends") and permanent emphasis. Although she can't be reproached for the placement, the breath and the accuracy, she uses some trendy tricks, in particular the propensity to use small high-pitched hooks on the beginning of sentences. Her vocal is most often powerful and it is likely that her interpretation would benefit from being more measured ('Blueprint'). Curiously, this strong marker that Leslie Hunt's voice could be, in wanting to stick to the spirit of the times, becomes an instrument for trivializing a music that at first is not easily accessible.

In the end, this album without any real flaw has some difficulties to convince. Stuck between a fusion tone not easy to apprehend and a too formatted vocal, without a really determined musical direction, "Screen" leaves the listener on the side of the road. A pity. - Official website

DISTRICT 97

SCREENS

GLASS ONYON

PROGRESSIVE ROCK