CD Review: Mostly Autumn, Storms Over Still Water

When I returned from work on Friday, there was a package waiting at home for me. It contained my Limited Subscriber Edition of Mostly Autumn's new album, which I'd ordered a few months ago. Mostly Autumn have followed the lead set by Marillion a few years back, persuading fans to preorder the next album before it's been recorded; thus relying on their fan base rather than an advance from a cynical record company to pay for the recording costs.

Mostly Autumn are a York-based seven-piece inspired by the currently unfashionable classic rock bands of the 70s. Early albums were full of echoes of Pink Floyd, Renaissance, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and Fairport Convention. Later on they fused these influences into their own unique sound, combining celtic atmospherics with soaring symphonic rock. This is the sort of music that requires multiple listens before it can properly be appreciated. Unfortunately any album of theirs runs a serious risk of being dismissed by mainstream critics who will attempt to appraise it on a single listen, even if they don't reject it out of hand as being totally out of touch with contemporary musical fashions.

Storms Over Still Water, MA's fifth "Proper" work, is very much an album of two halves. The first half is made up of short, fairly commercial rock numbers in the vein of 2003's "Passengers". But the second half contains longer sweeping pieces in the style of the high points of their earlier work. The actual sound is a little different this time; unlike the sparser productions of some earlier albums, this time there's a big, full sound which probably needs an expensive stereo to do it full justice.

I don't normally do track-by-track reviews, but this time I'll make an exception:

Out of the Green Sky: Liam Davidson's slide guitar leads into a heavy guitar-driven opener. Bryan Josh's vocals on the verse are rather low in the mix, which makes a dramatic contrast with Heather Findlay's soaring vocal on the chorus.

Broken Glass: A lighter, poppier song with a big 80s style multi-tracked guitar hook, although the vocal melody is a bit weak. Ties with Ghost in Dreamland for the weakest song on the album.

Ghost in Dreamland: Another rather lightweight poppy number, which, like the previous song, doesn't do an awful lot for me. Probably the nearest thing the album has to filler.

Heart Life: This bluesy ballad has been in the live set since the end of last year, so I'd heard the song before. The acoustic verse recalls a faint echo of the band's older celtic folk sound, but with a much rockier chorus. A great vocal performance from Heather on this one, and an equally great solo from Bryan at the end. For me, this is the standout song from the first half of the album.

The End of the World: Possibly the strangest song on the album, with a lyric that seems a homage to the whimsical but dark stories Peter Gabriel used to tell in between songs. It uses the contrasting vocal styles of the two lead singers to great effect.

Black Rain: MA rock out with the heaviest song they've ever performed. I've heard the riff being described as a bit like Oasis, but it reminds me more of Uriah Heep at their best. Another superb vocal from Heather and some wonderful guitar heroics from Bryan. They should really put this one out as a single; it would show up The Darkness for the poseurs they are.

Coming to...: An instrumental that doesn't quite work. Builds up from a repetitive guitar riff and marching keyboards, but abruptly stops before it reaches a climax. When I first heard it, I thought there was a fault on my CD. But no, it's meant to end like that.

Candle in the Sky: The first of three lengthy epics. The beginning section is reminiscent of parts of Dark Side of the Moon, with Bryan's vocals sounding very Dave Gilmour. The song leads into a bizarre Bon Jovi-like singalong middle section, and finally an chill-out atmospheric playout. The individual parts are good, but I'm not sure whether the thing works as a whole.

Carpe Diem: A symphonic rock classic. In some ways it resembles the much earlier 'The Gap is Too Wide' from 1999s "Spirit of Autumn Past" Built upon a simple repetitive piano figure from Iain Jennings, it starts with a beautiful vocal section from Heather, and builds into an extended soaring solo from Bryan. I love the interplay between the guitar and the backing vocals. The band have done this sort of thing before, but never to such effect.

Storms over Still Water: The title track is vaguely similar in arrangement to the previous track; opening with an atmospheric vocal section, sung (I think) by both Heather and Angela Gordon, a heavier middle section sung by Bryan, and another extended solo at the end. Another good one, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of the track before.

Tomorrow: The closing number is another short instrumental, building up from a simple guitar riff overlaid with walls of keyboards to build a big symphonic wall of sound. A fine way to end the album.

Overall, this is a superb album, and a logical progression from what's gone before. It builds on the strengths of "Passengers", but also includes some soaring epics, the one thing Passengers lacked. Missing almost completely this time is any sign of the old celtic folky feel; maybe elements of this will reappear next time around?

One thing that stands out here is Bryan Josh's guitar playing. If "Passengers" showed a tremendous advance in Heather Findlay's vocals, this one shows just as big an improvement in Bryan's lead guitar. Before he was a competent journeyman player; now in places he's showing the potential to be a Steve Rothery or a Dave Gilmour. The production gives him a big overdriven sound that suits his playing well. But if Bryan Josh and Heather Findlay share the spotlight, the unsung hero is Iain Jennings, whose keyboard playing never takes centre stage, but fills out the sound all the way through the album.

The album isn't quite perfect; I'd like to have a heard little more of Angela Gordon's flute playing, which is seriously underused this time around. Also some of the arrangements still show some rough edges; several songs don't seem to have proper endings, but just seem to stop.

But these are quibbles; the albums great strengths overwhelm these relatively minor faults. If you liked any earlier Mostly Autumn album, you will not be disappointed in this one.