Welcome to Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week. Six brand new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.
Props to Icelandic quintet Múr, whose intriguing ten-minute plus of Holskefla won a close run contest last week, pipping Chilean prog metal band Crisálida at the very last and with Australian prog rockers Teramaze coming in 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 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.
KLONE - AFTER THE SUN
French prog rock quintet Klone get all introspective with their latest single, After The Sun, taken from the quintet's acclaimed The Unseen album, which they have just released for new label Pelagic Records, and on which vocalist Yan Ligner's impressively mournful vocals truly shine. The video, Directed by Julien Metternich and starring actor and model Tifaine Boudinot, the video is a cinematic retelling of the track’s central themes of love, loss and memory.
“After The Sun dares to be minimal, and that’s its strength," explains guitarist Guillaume Bernard. Everything comes together at just the right moment to speak of our fleeting place in the world and our relationship with the passing of time.”
DIM GRAY - PERIL
Peril is the first taste of Shards, the upcoming album from Norwegian prog rockers Dim Gray, and their first since keyboard player and vocalist Oskar Holldorff joined Big Big Train. He's back here in fine form on Peril, a bold and uplifting slice of prog-infused pop rock, which bodes well for the new album, which will be released through Grim Day Records on February 28.
“This song has a long, long history of rewrites and sketches," explains guitraist and vocalist Håkon Høiberg. "We are very happy that it has finally reached the finish line, and we are excited to show a more direct and upbeat side from Dim Gray! The guitar part has always been a key element, but I must admit that it started as a mandolin song and even a piano song before slowly retreating back to the guitar again. ‘Peril’ is about breaking norms, and sometimes a bit of naivety is an important recipe for succeeding in that journey.”
WHIMSICAL CREATURE - THE STARGAZER
The Stargazer is a delightful introduction to Whimsical Creature, a new acoustic-led dup featuring I Am The Manic Whale's Michael Whiteman and Ella Lloyd, who has provided flute on every Manic Whale release thus far. Lloyd lends her voice, flute and autoharp skills to The Stargazer, while Whiteman also sings and plays drums, bass, piano, 12-string acoustic guitars, and classical guitar. Expect an album from the pair in 2025!
“I wanted to write some pieces with a more acoustic sound," explains Whiteman. "This band will be primarily based around the acoustic guitar and piano, with a more stripped-back feel than much of the other music I have been involved with. You won’t hear any mellotrons, Hammond organs or electric guitars in Whimsical Creature!”
“I have been delighted to play my flute on every I Am The Manic Whale release, so I was very keen to be involved in Whimsical Creature," adds Lloyd. "The autoharp has been in my family for generations and when I mentioned it to Michael he was very excited to use it in our music.”
THE HYPOTHESIS - WHERE THE DREAMS COME TO DIE
Finnish prog metal quartet The Hypothesis who at one time featured current Opeth drummer Waltteri Väyrynen within their ranks. The band released their latest album, Evolve, through Nobe Demon Records earlier this year. Where The Dreams Come To Die, whilst having a metallic crunch, shows that The Hypothesis have more to offer listeners than the prog metal tag suggests.
"The song depicts a person trapped in a cycle of wasted time and unfulfilled dreams, watching life pass by while claiming to be fine," the band state. "They express a longing to break free from this stagnation, to truly live and seize the present moment, yet they remain in a place where dreams die, waiting for something or someone to awaken them"
SOMEWHERE - GOMORRAH NEVER KNOWS
Swedish prog outfit Somewhere were formed by singer John Thelin and guitarist Fredrik Cerha who both bonded over a love of 70s prog, especially Yes and Genesis. They're joined by Paul Näsström (drums, backup vocals), Johan Nyberg (bass) and Fredrik Lundberg (keyboards). Their new single, the 11-minute and 24-second Gomorrah Never Knows, from their upcoming album, is loosely based on the legendary writer Jack Kerouac’s experiences with the beatnik and hippy counterculture movements.
"What happens when an artist lets go of their creation and releases it to the outside world," the band ask. "A writer delivers his story of a journey through a world in disarray for release and then goes into a long period of isolation from the world. Years later, upon his return to civilization, he finds himself a hero, admired and adored as an author not only by his peers but also by his protagonists – the “unwashed and grey”."
GERD WEYHING - INFERNO DEL SERVIZIO
Gerd Weyhing is a German guitarist and part-time vocalist who lives and works in a small quiet village in the Palatinate Forest, and who last features in Tracks Of The Week last July. Gerd is back with this ten-minute slice of what he refers to as "1970s Italian prog from Germany."
"I have created this track, along with 10 other songs, with the help of Artificial Intelligence," he admits, although he has made albums with conventional instruments too. "I tried it (I try everything), and the quality was just mindblowing. So I made an album. Unfortunately, AI is a controversial topic at the moment, maybe it is the most important music topic. The tricky part is to let people hear this music without prejudice, otherwise a lot of people just say "oh no, robot music, I don't want to hear that". I hope you are not opposed to this exciting new way of creating music."
