Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Shining a light through a prism and seeing the array of colours may be a dominate reminder of glories past, of the upheld reflection in which certain Progressive moods were initially formed and which have always been at the undercurrent of many a music fans way of thinking; but a prism can allude to more than just Time and light being slowed down and marvelled at, it is the refraction which illuminates in the Now and one that marvels at the luminosity caught, that is meticulous and filled with beauty.
If not Now, then when? we could fill our lives with that particular question, a burning desire to seek out and wring the life from of the drudgery and commitment to the endless wait in which we seem so happy to place our trust in, never realising that the abundant kaleidoscope of colour is within our grasp, Now and forever, should we accept that meaning is our friend.
To nourish the landscape once caught under the waves of oceans of thoughts, the seabed dried and cracked as it weathers relentless boring heat, is a job for the hardy of spirit, to those that acknowledge the flow that once trickled through our collective bodies and under our feet, it is a prospect of releasing the well of the Now which will revive the parched lands of the immediate to which Montreal’s Jesse Mac Cormack holds tightly to in his brand new release, Now.
An album of principle, one that owes, perhaps unconsciously, to the later works of Marillion in terms of its searing flow of notes, to the direction that caught in the undertow and which charms the listener with images of radiance and solitude. It is in this duel dynamic that songs such as No Love Go, Passageway, To The End, Nothing Lasts and the album title track, Now sweep all before them and leave the listener with no doubt that they have witnessed something timely, a set of songs that enter the prism with caution but then explode out of the other side leaving a cracked shell in its wake that could not hold such passion.
A wonderful adept album, Now is the time for such musical intervention in our lives.
Jesse Mac Cormack releases Now on May 3rd via Secret City Records.
Ian D. Hall