Originally posted in The Playlist of Life, December 18 2011
The City Sleeps --- Touchstone --- 2011 (SPV)
Although they've been together since about 2001, Touchstone's first album proper wasn't released until 2007, while their second, 2009's
Wintercoast earned rave reviews and widened the band's fanbase considerably. This, then, is their third, and the first released on a major label, which if handled correctly should see Touchstone go from strength to strength and gain even more fans.
At heart a progressive rock/metal band with symphonic overtones, Touchstone are fronted by Kim Seviour, who may be small in stature but certainly not in voice. She and the original founding member Rob Cottingham form the nucleus and present the face of the band, despite her having only joined in 2007, kind of the same way Mostly Autumn is represented by Bryan Josh and Heather Findlay, or was, before Heather's departure to pursue a solo career.
The album opens with strong Marillion influences in the guitar and keys, circa
Script and
Fugazi, and it's some pretty powerful guitar courtesy of Adam Hodgson that gets “Corridors” underway, then Kim Seviour's clear, sharp vocals cut in and you can see why she's being touted as one of the most promising “new” female vocalists. It's almost Nightwish or Edenbridge, but with a softer edge, less emphasis on the operatic side of the vocals and more on the rock singer. “Corridors” is a fast, uptempo rocker with some really great guitar parts, but it's Cottingham's keyboard work that really reminds me of Fish-era Marillion, or maybe early Pendragon.
One of the longest tracks is up next, ten minutes of “When Shadows Fall”, which starts off very slowly and quietly, building like the approach of a coming train, chiming keys and choral voices gradually getting louder and more powerful, with guitar coming in, quite reminiscent of “The King of Sunset Town” from Marillion's
Holidays in Eden. Yes, there are quite a few comparisons to be made with Marillion here, which is no bad thing. It's almost two minutes before hard guitar chords and feedback guitar announce what must be the beginning proper of the song, then as suddenly they're gone, replaced by tinkling piano, then that's joined by angry guitar and loud, loud drums, and abruptly the keyboards cut in as Cottingham does a fantastic impression of Tony Banks at his most classic.
It's almost four minutes before we hear Kim Seviour, but when she starts singing she takes over the song, both with her vocals and her personality. You just can't really listen to anything else once she opens her mouth. The song has by now become a fast rocker, the keys of Cottingham carrying it on a synth-rock infused wave of pomp and melody, then he switches to piano for a beautiful but short little run as the whole song slows down, Hodgson's guitar taking the main melody as Cottingham joins Seviour on the mike. More gorgeous piano, then Cottingham takes over the vocals, Josh-like, before Hodgson launches into an inspired solo, piano keeping pace with him as Seviour goes back on vocals, backed by Cottingham.
It's a real prog-rock masterpiece, and worth the price of the album on its own. “These Walls”, on the other hand, is far less intricate, a straightforward rocker with snarly guitar and an impassioned vocal from Seviour. “Throw Them to the Sky” is another good rocker, full of guitar hooks and with a nice vocal passage by Cottingham in the middle, though Seviour takes main vocal duties on this song, like most of Touchstone's material. Some very brassy keyboard gives the song a feeling of later eighties Yes, while “Sleeping Giants” slows things down with some sweet pizzicato strings on the keyboard from Cottingham and some really nice digital piano in the first ballad on the album, with a truly exceptional keyboard solo and some great guitar providing a really dramatic and energetic song.
“Good Boy Psycho” opens with some frenetic guitar and keys, then settles into a nice mid-pacer, with some pretty heavy guitar work from Adam Hodgson against some progressive keyboard from Cottingham. Never in any danger of getting lost in this musical interplay, Kim Seviour's voice rises high above it all, coasting on the wave and singing out clearly and powerfully, always grabbing the attention. I would, however, single this out as my least favourite track on the album, in fact the only track so far that I haven't been totally impressed with. Just seems a little confused, jumping from idea to idea without any really clear direction.
“Horizons” doesn't suffer from any such problems, powerful and gritty throughout, and “Half Moon Meadow” is a lovely half-ballad, where Rob joins Kim on vocals and they perform a rather outstanding duet. Something very Mostly Autumn about this song, even the melody is quite evocative of Bryan Josh's guitar playing. The song ends on a great combined guitar and keyboard solo, and leads us into the title track, an eleven-minute opus. It goes through some major changes along the way, and features some pretty stunning vocal poetry by Kim as they hark back to the last album,
Wintercoast, continuing the story begun there.
The album ends on a little instrumental, called “Corridors Epiphany”. It's interesting but the record would not have been any the poorer had it been left off. A bit of a distraction, but I guess it forms a sort of a coda to the album and to the title track.
I'm very impressed with this. It's the first Touchstone album I've managed to listen to, and now I want to hear more. It's both very up-to-date in its sound and firmly rooted in the progressive rock of the early eighties as already mentioned. Kim Seviour is a fine vocalist and with the rest of the band performing as they do here, I think it may not been too long before we hear about Touchstone outside of rock circles.
Remember the name!
TRACK LISTING
1. Corridors
2. When Shadows Fall
3. These Walls
4. Throw Them to the Sky
5. Sleeping Giants
6. Good Boy Psycho
7. Horizons
8. Half Moon Meadow
9. The City Sleeps
10. Corridors Epiphany