FISH ON FRIDAY: Airborne (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Two years ago the Belgians of Fish On Friday were trying to reach the moon. Today they stay in the clouds with their album called "Airborne". In the cockpit we find the couple formed by William Beckers and Franck Van Bogaert who occupy all the key positions from composition to production. The rest of the crew is almost unchanged and carries out the same missions as during the first trip as musicians or backup singers.

If you can imagine meeting Alan Parson, Tear for Fears, Asia (on the album "Arena") or Pink Floyd at the end of their careers, you will then be able to define the music that Fish On Friday offers us, a subtle mix qualified as Progressive Pop by the band itself. This musical coloration, already present on their first opus, is getting stronger and the band takes the opportunity to offer us compositions a little longer.

During the listening it will not be rare to imagine oneself in the heart of an album of Pop, New-Wave, or Progressive Rock or even electro. This mix is the great strength but also the weakness of this band. It is difficult to label it and depending on its sensitivity it will be possible to quickly go from enchantment to boredom.

'Welcome', the first track of the album, starts with the sophisticated ticking of a clock before the arrival of a powerful and efficient keyboard. This track is very catchy. The clear voice of Franck Van Bogaert is accompanied by choruses which reinforce the Pop side of this appetizer. The final flight of keyboards sends us back to the standards of the progressive rock. It is also difficult to dissociate the eponymous title and 'I'm An Island' as they seem so close with subtle arrangements around a sober and efficient keyboard line. On this track the listener will also appreciate the female choirs and maybe we can regret that these beautiful voices are finally so little present. Finally, how not to quote 'Here We Stand', the high point of the album, which brilliantly closes it. All softly and progressive, it allows us to hear a beautiful guitar with a sound close to that of a certain David Gilmour. A track that would not have made a stain on "Division Bells".

Fish On Friday evolves in a multifaceted universe of its own. To enter it, the listener should forget all his references and let himself be carried away by the music and the softness of the vocals. You will then take an immediate but perhaps ephemeral pleasure. - Official website

FISH ON FRIDAY

AIRBORNE

AUTRE LABEL

PROGRESSIVE ROCK