Originally published in "Bitesize", October 19 2013
The Dream Harbour - Willowglass - 2013 (Self-Released)
The first word that will come instantly to your brain when you hear the opening track from this album is Genesis: there's just no getting away from the comparisons with that wibbly, uptempo, bouncy keyboard, which takes you right back to 1973 and the very best of Tony Banks. But Willowglass has only been around since 2005, though its driving force, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marshall, has been playing in bands since the early eighties. And when I say multi I mean multi: here he plays guitars (electric, acoustic, Classical and twelve-string), keyboards and bass! He's ably assisted by Hans Schmitz on drums and Steve Unruh helps out by adding flute, violin and more guitar.
It's all instrumental, so might be a little hard for anyone to get into who isn't a prog rock fan (but we love this sort of thing, don't we?) and the likes of mellotron, flute and woodwinds are prevalent all through the album. The opener is almost twenty-one minutes long too, so that will certainly do away with anyone who's not into prog. But if you take the time to sit back and listen you will hear a wealth of musical talent and gorgeous soundscapes here. Unruh's beautiful violin passages in
A house of cards part 1 alone are worth the price of the album, and there's so much more than that on offer. Marshall's skill on the various guitars is virtually unparalleled in the sphere of current prog rock.
There's some nice Supertramp-style piano work going on in
A short intermission then Arabic influences on
A house of cards pt 2 with some really great guitar and violin and a very classical influenced approach, the tone getting a little darker. The album's over before you realise it, and it's been a hell of a journey.
Track Listing and Ratings
1. A house of cards pt 1
2. A short intermission
3. A house of cards pt 2
4. Interlude no. 2
5. The dream harbour
6. Helleborine
7. The face of Eurydice