Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is an aura of inevitability that surrounds Kino, a sense of beauty that entwines itself around the mixture of the possible popular hit with the assuredness that goes hand in hand with the playground of the Progressive Rock culture; hardly surprising when you stop and think of pedigree involved in the Kino project, but one that still finds a way to stagger the mind and tickle the senses into a lullaby like submission.

Despite not having released a studio album in such a collaborative manner for almost 15 years, Radio Voltaire seamlessly comes along and fits right in, like the family member you never knew existed till one day they show up at your door and you realise just how close you are in appearance, moods and opinions.

It is in part arguably to the pairing of Marillion’s and Transatlantic’s Pete Trewavas and one of the thinking Prog fan’s favourite voices in John Mitchell, that Kino takes hold of the stirring possibility and flavoursome soaring melody; add to that the erstwhile John Beck on synthesisers and backing vocals and Craig Blundell on drums and what the listener has in the palms of their hands is an album that strikes home with rich rewards. A pleasantry that cannot be mistaken for anything other than a tightness of spirit and whilst, as Voltaire remarked, “A witty saying proves nothing”, a deep consideration however for the music performed, speaks volumes.

It is in the prospect of finding another way to listen to the four musicians as they combine that teases the listener into the hole in which the white rabbit once danced, a kind of Alice in Wonderland feel but with every strain of modern existence weaved through its fabric, cross threaded, a perfectly unspoiled picture and appreciation for the band and the genre becomes ensured.

In tracks such as The Dead Club, I Won’t Break So Easily Any More, Grey Shapes of Concrete Fields, The Silent Fighter Pilot and the opening, album title, song of Radio Voltaire, Kino re-establish themselves as knights of the genre, the chessboard quaking under the serene expectancy of their return.

There may be Time between albums, but Radio Voltaire has been well worth the wait.

Ian D. Hall