Quidam: Alone Together

Read the track titles sequentially out loud and you won't be surprised to find this is a concept album about common bonds overcoming apparent but less important differences in relationships. This is Quidam's second album with Bartek Kossowicz replacing Emila on vocals. All the usual features you associate with Quidam are here, the uplifting guitar solos, the rich keyboard textures, the delicate acoustic interludes and that wonderful ever present flute. There's even a bamboo flute and zither on the second track. The album opens with a melancholic, breathy, flute and piano-backed ballad which opens out nicely into a slow paced Floydian guitar solo. Unlike their early albums and the one attempt at doing two versions, the band have now settled on delivering nearly all the vocals in well-spoken English. The lyric writing is competent but it is the arrangements the band puts around them that makes Quidam such a joy to listen to.

The second track is indicative of this with its melodic guitar introduction and brief vocal section which leads into a moving atmospheric section with female backing vocals and lyrical guitar hovering and swooping down over the Hammond and Piano chords. Track 3 is a more sober affair to start with, a solo flute over a bass figure leading into the softly spoken lyrics. I'm reminded very much of Satellite at this point of this lengthy song, especially the use of electronic percussion and the way the song builds gently. Flute and guitar work together and the vocals become stronger as the song reaches its allegro stage. Hammond backing and piano overlays provide the base for the soaring guitar which climaxes and drops back to the breathy vocal style which introduced the track. Another rise in tempo with a bluesy electric guitar leading to a rising epiphany, fall back and close out.

"They are there to remind us" and "Of illusions" moves us into neo-progressive territory with shades of Marillion, Arena or Pendragon. This most aggressive phase makes a good fulcrum for the album as it returns to the more subtle colours of the first tracks in "We lost", a spacious, airy mix of guitar and keyboards with an ethereal flute drifting around among the lamenting vocals. I'm reminded again very much of Satellite or Collage here with polished (no pun intended) singing from Bartek and crisp clean extended guitar licks raising the tempo at the end and finding room for a sax to rough things up a bit. "One day we find" packs a lot of changes in pace into its mainly instrumental content whilst the title track of the main work is a tender acoustically accompanied ballad. The codicil to the album sees the band rock out somewhat with the chance for the drummer to really hit the damn things.

A well crafted album which will undoubtedly appeal to all lovers of melodic symphonic prog.

Track Listing
1. Different
2. Kinds of Solitude at night
3. Depicting the colours of emotions
4. They are there to remind us
5. Of Illusions
6. We lost
7. One day we find
8. We are alone together
9. PS But strong together

Added: June 1st 2008
Reviewer: Richard Barnes
Score:
Related Link: Quidam Website
Hits: 5210
Language: english

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