Foley, Paul: Shape in Spacetime

Paul Foley is front man for the Australian progressive rock band Brainstorm. It has been three years since their last album so what better time than to work on solo material. The album is called Shape in Spacetime, his first disc and hopefully not his last because this is a really solid effort.

Since there are no other musicians mentioned in the liner notes it is safe to assume Foley played everything himself. This is a pretty mellow album, with the focus on acoustic guitar and Paul's melodic, laid back vocals. The lead vocals is one of the album's strong points. The musicianship is also of high quality, especially the guitar and flute that is found all over the disc.

Foley plays a brand of folky progressive rock branching into spacey and psychedelic territory at various times. Although the album is largely acoustic there is quite a lot of variation amongst the tunes. "Twelve Hundred Miles" has a proggy/spacey '60s folk vibe with dreamy lead vocals and programmed drums. The drum sound is actually pretty cool. "Raven" hints of David Bowie with deeper vocals and textural guitar adding a spacey element. Definitely one of my favourite tracks. The folky "Symphony of Atoms" has a strong inkling towards Obscured By Clouds-era Pink Floyd while "Play to Win" has a '60s prog folk sound reminding me of the Moody Blues. One of the more unusual tracks is the electronic "Taliban" taking its cues from Kraftwerk featuring robotic-like vocals and Eastern themed guitar and flute. "Assam" has a more ambient mood while "Parachute Shop" is an upbeat number with a jaunty guitar melody. The last two tracks, "Journey's End" and "Dracula's Bride" are both over ten minutes with the former highlighted by excellent acoustic guitar and tribal rhythmic patterns and the latter by its driving beat and superb flute trills. I hear a bit of The Doors in this one.

Accompanying the CD was a hand written note stating "you might be interested in my new CD, for review, mention, or just as a coffee cup coaster." I can assure you Mr. Foley, a coffee cup coaster this is not! Folky, spacey and just a little proggy, Shape in Spacetime will appeal to many fans across the rock spectrum. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

Track Listing:
1. Twelve Hundred Miles (3:11)
2. Needless and Furtive Reminders (2:28)
3. Raven (8:02)
4. Symphony of Atoms (5:24)
5. Play to Win (3:57)
6. Taliban (6:17)
7. Assam (6:03)
8. Caverns of Night (7:32)
9. Parachute Shop (3:48)
10. Journey's End (13:38)
11. Dracula's Bride (11:25)

Added: February 25th 2015
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 1913
Language: english

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