In Progess: North Atlantic Echoes

North Atlantic Echoes is quite a step forward for the duo of John Dillon (vocals/guitar/bass/programming/keyboards) and Jake Rosenberg (keyboards/programming), and their partnership, In Progress. A band-name which the pair have lived up to since their debut release Signal Failure revealed a desolate, dark Tool-lite feel. North Atlantic Echoes is genuinely like listening to another outfit altogether. And a very impressive one at that.

With previous guest drummer, Mark Zonder now nowhere to be seen, a new "big name" lends a hand; ex-Dream Theater, OSI, Chroma Key man Kevin Moore hinting at the change in focus IP have undergone. Also the lack of a live drummer (usually a problem for me, but actually a strength here) gives an indication of where In Progress are headed. The mood remains the same however, with introspective and pensive themes the order of the day, with a cornucopia of synth sounds and key expulsions slowly revealing themselves alongside gently electro-clinking beats and solemn, yet captivating vocals. Oddly I can't help but wonder if Clannad, Opeth, Porcupine Tree and Jean Michel Jarre would sound like this if they decided to "jam". Probably not, but the dreamy, cinematic, beautiful, yet despairing picture that image portrays certainly would.

In reality In Progress don't actually sound like any of the above mentioned acts, yet the very fact that making comparisons is a challenge (possibly No Man is a touching point), can only be a good thing and one to commend IP for. However whether through the swishing percussion and layered voices of "Graveyard Snowfall", the pensive, melodic, yet (in places) oddly eighties sounding "North Atlantic", or gloriously free female vocals (courtesy of Hwei Ling Ng) and unnervingly encased male vocals and Vangelisian synth pulses of "Cloudburst", the one thing In Progress ensure, is that you'll never tire of stepping inside their idiosyncratically stark world.

Fans of electronic, Progressive music with a penchant for glistening gloom and gentle insistence should take note. In fact head over to the In Progress BandCamp page, where there's a "pay as much as you want" campaign in progress (sorry...), with rewards for those willing to shell out for their copy. You won't be disappointed.

Track Listing
1. Tones From A Twisting Verse
2. Thunderstorms
3. Chasing Ghosts
4. Cloudburst
5. North Atlantic
6. Thorn Yard
7. Graveyard Snowfall

Added: May 4th 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: In Progress BandCamp Page
Hits: 3143
Language: english

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