Title: Satellite
Artiste: Panic Room
Year 2010
Nationality: Welsh
Familiarity: 0%, though I have heard of them and also their parent band, Karnataka.And I know Anne-Marie from her work with Mostly Autumn, one of my favourite bands.
Genre: Progressive Rock
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Expectations: Really not sure. I've heard good things but who knows? Still, it's female-fronted prog rock, so that can't be bad, can it? This is the first album that goes way back, to 2010 in fact, but as I explained in the OP, while this is mostly 2015 (and later, 2016) albums, it does refer to the fact that I am listening to them this/next year, so even if there are older albums, like this one, they still qualify.
1. Freedom to breathe: Actually reminds me of that goddamn Rembrandts song when it starts! And you know what
that reminds me of...! Like the vocals of Anne-Marie Helder, very sultry but strong. This is a lot rockier than progressive rock tends to generally be, a little more in the vein of melodic rock really. Very guitar driven
2. Picking up knives: Very powerful vocal, great Fender Rhodes (which I believe is played by Anne-Marie) and lovely interplay with the organ (stop that!): I really love the seventies-meets-twenty-first-century feel about this. Cool. The little cheeky snippets from The Doors are fun.
3. I am a cat: This is a fun little song, from the real cat meow at the beginning to Anne-Marie's affected ones during the song. Like the whole beat as it goes along. Hey, at least it's not titled “I am a dog”!
Mee-oww indeed.And a purr at the end!
4. The fall: Beautiful smoky little ballad. Kind of reminds me of something, but I'll just ignore that and enjoy the song. Lovely. Wonderful backing vocals and again superb Fender Rhodes.
5. Black noise: This has a real hard edge as you would expect. It's quite commendable how little these guys rely on keyboard within a prog rock band. The guitar is much more to the fore in most of the songs. Yes, Anne-Marie's piano is there, but even so, unlike most prog bands I know, Panic Room don't seem overly dependent on keys. Refreshing. Dreamy midsection here.
6. Yasuni: Oh this is so Vangelis it's not true! Slow beat, droning keyboard, some really nice guitar almost
a la Steely Dan.
7. Sunshine: This is just beautiful, with an almost whispered vocal and a lovely ringing soft guitar line. Talk about dreamy!
8. Into the fire: Sort of midpaced with a great hook in the chorus; some really nice keyboard work from the Fender Rhodes and a sweet little guitar solo too.
9. Dark star: Incredible fugue to open this, then it takes off, keeping the drama high. Such power and passion in this.
10. Muse: Acapella vocal then superb solo piano performance by Anne-Marie in a lush ballad. Can't praise this enough, I really can't.
11. Satellite: There really hasn't been anything on this album I haven't loved, and I don't expect the final, and title track will change that. Starts off beautiful, with a low-key guitar and soft, almost breathy vocal from Anne-Marie then some lovely guitar with soft vocal harmonies. Another superb track. I don't think I've had so many Blues since I began this, even on “Love or Hate?” The whole thing comes close to being all-blue, seriously.
Final result: Absolutely amazing album. I am so much more impressed here than I even expected to be. This has everything, and I have got to check out both their other albums and the Karnataka stuff now. I'm five years behind, but damn, better late than never!
Rating: (Hold on to your hats!)
