Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Seven brand new and diverse slices of progressive music for you to enjoy.
Congratulations to Chicago instrumental prog quartet Outrun The Sunlight, whose first new music for three years, Animal, won last week's Tracks Of The Week. Fellow US proggers The Twenty Committee came a respectable second and London-based Lowen came third.
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The premise for Tracks Of The Week is simple - we've collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you - makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn't it?
The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it's a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn't be easier could it?
We'll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we'll update you with this week's winner, and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.
If you're a band and you want to be featured in Prog's Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.
RICHARD HENSHALL - YANG
Haken guitarist Richard Henshall releases his brand new EP, Mu Vol.1, on June 7 from which comes new track Yang. The four-track EP is the first in a trilogy of planned EPs from the guitarist which explores his love for jazz-infused, intricate instrumental music. Hensall is joined on the new EP by drummer Lang Zhao and saxophonist Adam Carillio, while Henshall himself performs guitar, bass and keyboards.
"I road-tested an early iteration of Yang at a Strandberg clinic I did with Plini a couple of years ago. For me, it’s the rhythm that drives this track along, which is a theme that reoccurs throughout all three EPs. I decided to name this track after my cat Yang as he passed away when I was writing it. He would often perch himself on my shoulder during writing sessions and nod his approval when I hit a good chord so it seemed fitting!"
RELIQA - DYING LIGHT
Dynamic Australian prog metallers Reliqa recently announced they'd signed with the Nuclear Blast label for whom they will release their upcoming debut album, Secrets Of The Future on May 31. Like many young bands who toy with progressive music there's other influences that can be heard in their sound, including slabs of metalcore and prog-adjacent djent too, as well as, as far as new single Dying Light goes, a fine ear for a melody.
"Dying Light is your last taste of the album before we go full send on May 31," explains singer Monique Pym. "This one is all about the attitude – it's got a level of sass and femininity that we haven't explored before, with a dirty, riffy groove to keep it grounded. I think this song really completes the picture alongside Terminal and Killstar for how many diverse kinds of sounds we've managed to pack into the record."
RENDEZVOUS POINT - UTOPIA
Previous Tracks Of The Week winners Norway's Rendezvous Point will release their third album Dream Chaser through Long Branch Records on June 21, from which comes new single Dystopia. Led by Leprous drummer Baard Kolstad the band also feature keyboardist Nicolay Tangen Svennæs (Ihsahn, Bernhoft, Emilie Nicolas), singer Geirmund Hansen, guitarist Petter Hallaråker and bass player Gunn-Hilde Erstad, released their second album, Universal Chaos back in 2019,
"As a child you often search for ideals and someone to look up to," explains singer Hansen. "Very often, you can find those ideals in close family relations, and they become your guide. Later in life there’s a breaking point where you must find your own path and that sometimes can lead to a lacking feeling of belonging and you end up in the middle of two different spheres, Dystopia."
GRICE - KARL
Art rocker Grice pays homage to the late World Party frontman, Karl Wallinger, in his new single, simply titled Karl. The beautiful piece of music echoes Wallinger's own World Party sound while remaining respectful and touching. It's taken from Grice's upcoming new album, Mordant Lake, which he will release through hungersleep records on June 28.
"This song was born in Swanston House during Hurricane Karl in the deepest darkest heart of The Shire and is dedicated to the all-inspiring enigma that is Karl Wallinger," Grice says. "Karl Wallinger has been and is a true inspiration to me, not only for his wonderful poetry and song-writing excellence but also for his ability to write, produce, record the songs and release the albums himself … he was the band, when the band were not available. Wherever you may be ...'out measuring the stars'… I salute you."
SHUMAUN - SOME MEMORIES
US prog trio Shumaun blend progressive musical inclinations with arena-sized choruses on powerful new song Some Memories. It's taken from the band's fourth album, Opposing Mirrors, which the band will release at the end of June Core line-up of Farhad Hossain (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jose Mora (bass) and Tyler Kim (guitars) are joined on the new record by such drumming talent as Marco Minneman and Thomas Lang.
"The guitars seamlessly transition between low and high tones, heavy and light textures, slow and fast tempos, and chords and notes, adding depth to the composition," says guitarist Tyler Kim. "There is incredible drumming throughout the song by Marco Minnemann. The bass serves as an embellishment, enhancing the overall musical landscape. The vocals and synths are intricately layered atop the instrumentation to give the song its various shapes and colors."
EVERGREY - SAY
Prolific Swedish prog metal heavyweights Evergrey will release their latest album, Theories Of Emptiness, through Napalm Records on June 7. The new album features a guest appearance from Katatonia singer Jonas Renkse, was produced by Tom S. Englund and Jonas Ekdahl, and was mixed by former Periphery bassist and prog producer du jour, Adam "Nolly" Getgood with mastering helmed by Thomas “Plec” Johansson (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra).
"Say is one of those songs that immediately when we wrote the chorus we knew that it would be an awesome single," the band exclaim. "It will simply kill live and is a very worthy follow-up to the success of Falling From The Sun. Regarding the end of the video there will of course be questions, a lot of questions, we have the answers."
CIRCULINE - ALL
Having revamped their line-up, which now features British musicians Dave Bainbrdge on guitar (Lifesigns and Iona) and Kyros keyboard player and singer Shelby Logan Warne on bass, US prog rockers Circuline are embroiled in a year-long a Virtual Tour that consists of 57 events in 48 weeks, with single releases, lyric videos, official videos, 'Behind the Scenes' videos and Livestream Q&A events where the band is able to connect with their fans around the world. They release new album C.O.R.E. through Inner Nova Music on September 20.
"This is one of the more “progressive” songs on the record, so it was really nice to have the crew doing close-ups during the extended instrumental section of the song," says keyboard player and vocalist Andrew Colyer. "When we shot this video, we were playing to the rough mix of the song, and Dave was actually improvising some of his guitar parts, which were not fully flushed out for the record."
