Pure Reason Revolution recently announced their fifth studio album ‘Above Cirrus’ which will be released on May 6th, 2022 via InsideOutMusic. This is the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Eupnea’, which was the band’s first record since reuniting in 2019. This time around, Jon Courtney, Chloë Alper & Greg Jong (who returns as a full-time members for the first time since the ‘Cautionary Tales For The Brave’ EP) find themselves adapting to a world that is radically changing before their eyes, and on this new record, exorcising the isolation and uncertainty in search of something greater.
The band recently completed their first European tour in nearly 13 years, and ahead of the new album’s imminent release, they have launched a video for the latest track ‘Dead Butterfly’. Watch it now.
PURE REASON REVOLUTION – Dead Butterfly (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Jon Courtney comments: “We started living on some land in Brandenburg in a small primitive hut. It was a safe place with all that was going on around. We spent a lot of time on our patch in nature & one day my daughter came across an in injured, dying butterfly. She was sorrowful to see it die & we couldn’t help. The track stemmed from that. This thing of absolute beauty, passing away. Then we stumble across a caterpillar. Discovery, creation & life breathes on.
This probably sees us at our heaviest. Bring Me The Horizon meets Smashing Pumpkins meets Fleetwood Mac.”
Of the recently completed tour, the band commented: “We’re really pleased with how the tour went & still have to pinch myself it was possible after multiple postponements! Fan feedback & interaction is incredibly important; seeing headbanging heads, nodding heads or even just the people that let the music wash over them…whatever type of fan you are, a huge thank you to all that came along & inspired us. As the album release approaches we’re excited to launch ‘Dead Butterfly’ at your ears! Hope you enjoy the track along with the dazzling video from Thomas Hicks. “
On ‘Above Cirrus’, the band continues many of the musical through lines that fans have come to expect; maintaining a balance between somber reflection and intrepid exploration, leading listeners through a shapeshifting collection of seven tracks that evoke a range of emotions. On the songs ‘Our Prism’ and ‘New Kind of Evil’, the energy reaches magnificent heights of guitar-led catharsis, rivaling the best efforts of acts like Tool and Filter, while offerings in ‘Lucid’ and ‘Dead Butterfly’ meld the group’s keyboard-centric song-structures with vast, epic soundscapes. But, unlike its predecessor, ‘Above Cirrus’ is far from a narrative driven concept record. As Jon confides, each song, while fueled by his personal journeys and the condition of modern times, is truly its own device. Reflecting on the lyricism of the record, he adds:
“Often my writing occupies itself with relationships; how we can be so tender/loving with each other in one instance, days later or even in a few flashes we’re tearing each other apart. The sublime & the savage/vicious. The music reflects this light & shade dynamic shift too. Our world shrinks through lockdowns/restrictions & strain is intensified. However, the end message is one of optimism – affirmation we’ll get to the end of this surreal chapter & be stronger together. Through the turbulence, we’ll help each other through the darkness.”
The album will be released as Limited CD, Gatefold LP+CD & as Digital Download, featuring beautiful cover artwork by artist Jill Tegan Doherty, who previously created the cover for ‘Eupnea’. Pre-order now here: https://purereasonrevolution.lnk.to/AboveCirrus
English alternative progressive rock band The Pineapple Thief will release an album titled Give It Back on May 13th via Kscope. This is an album of newly recorded, re-worked classic tracks, that now feature drum legend Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), from the band’s impressive catalog.
The Pineapple Thief is one of the leading lights of Europe’s experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord and reinforced by Gavin Harrison (King Crimson) on drums.
In the lead up to their extensive forthcoming 2022 European and US tour (23 Feb through to June) in support of their latest studio album ‘Versions Of The Truth’, The Pineapple Thief present ‘Give It Back’ which is due for release on the 13th May through Kscope.
‘Give It Back’ is a new album featuring 12 new versions of earlier works including songs taken from the albums ‘Little Man’, ‘All The Wars’, ‘Tightly Unwound’. The band has completely re-recorded all of the tracks to complement brand new Gavin Harrison drum parts and new song arrangements. The result of this process is a unique release of reworked songs which showcases the evolution of The Pineapple Thief. Bruce Soord explains the idea behind the album “Gavin went through the entire TPT back catalog and picked out some songs he felt we could revisit. As soon as I heard what Gavin was doing, it inspired me to completely rework the songs too. Gavin would suggest adding new parts, chopping things around, bringing in extra verses and I was completely open to all of it. I also ‘closed the story’ lyrically on a lot of the songs which I felt were left too open-ended. It was a lot of fun to do, even if it felt a little strange at times going back in time.”
The Pineapple Thief – Give it Back (Rewired) [Official Lyric Video]
Gavin Harrison comments “When I first started working with The Pineapple Thief I had only played on the album “Your Wilderness”, so when the time came to play live, I obviously had to approach quite a few songs I didn’t know and hadn’t played before. Having spent some years in King Crimson (where this challenge was often presented to me), Robert Fripp suggested that you should approach every song as if it were new regardless of when it was written. So with the blessing of The Pineapple Thief, I developed my own take on some of the earlier material. As the tours went by, I got curious about their huge back catalog and found myself listening through and applying the ‘old song/new song’ process and imagining how I could (sometimes radically) rework them – initially just for the purposes of finding other songs to play live. However, Bruce encouraged me to go as far out as I wanted (including writing whole new sections) – after all, the original already existed – so why not breathe new life into these earlier songs? This isn’t a compilation album or any kind of selected ‘best of’ record – but rather the tunes that gave me inspiration to rearrange, rework, rewire.”
The title track from the album is the first single to be released on 22nd February. Bruce explains“One of the first songs that Gavin picked out from the back catalog was Give it Back. We completely re-recorded and re-worked the entire piece. It feels like a completely new song and it’s already part of our live set.”
The ‘Give It Back’ album artwork has been created by Carl Glover.
‘Give It Back’ will be released as a 2 disc CD & Blu-ray (Audio – Hi-res Stereo/DTS-HD MA 5.1/Dolby Atmos), CD, black vinyl LP, and digitally and is available to PRE-ORDER HERE (https://TPT.lnk.to/GiveItBack )
‘Give It Back’ Tracklisting
Wretched Soul (Rewired) [05:26]
Dead In The Water (Rewired) [04:43]
Shoot First (Rewired) [03:43]
Build A World (Rewired) [03:42]
Start Your Descent (Rewired) [04:23]
Give It Back (Rewired) [06:20]
Boxing Day (Rewired) [03:25]
Someone Pull Me Out (Rewired) [04:00]
Last Man Standing (Rewired) [05:15]
Little Man (Rewired) [03:51]
137 (Rewired) [05:06]
Warm Seas (Rewired) [03:59]
The band will also be touring North America for the first time in years in support of the record.
The Pineapple Thief – Dead In The Water Rewired (Lyric Video)
Big Big Train has recruited Alberto Bravin as lead vocalist following the tragic death of David Longdon in November 2021.
Based in Trieste in Italy, Bravin’s career includes performing around 200 shows with progressive rock legends PFM between 2015 and January 2022, both in Italy and internationally, singing lead and backing vocals and playing keyboards.
Alberto Bravin says: “I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to join Big Big Train. I was already a huge BBT fan and am looking forward to play my part in taking this great band forward while also honoring the memory of David Longdon.”
Big Big Train bassist and founder Gregory Spawton comments: “Before Covid-19 hit, Nick D’Virgilio and I had both seen Alberto perform with PFM. We were very impressed with his abilities as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist and therefore approached him earlier this year.
“We know that David is irreplaceable and we miss him deeply both musically and personally,” Spawton continues. “We were very clear that we didn’t want to bring someone into the band who would seek to mimic David; that just felt fundamentally wrong. Instead, we wanted someone who could do justice with their own musical skills and personality to the songs that David sang for Big Big Train as well as being able to help to drive the band forwards. From his first audition singing some BBT classic songs and subsequently his work on some new material that we’re working on, we’re confident that we’ve found the right person in Alberto.”
“Aside from Alberto’s great voice and all-around musical skills, it was also vital for us to find the right personal fit, particularly after being struck with David’s sudden death,” drummer Nick D’Virgilio comments. “We flew Alberto to London several weeks ago so we could hang together for a few days and the chemistry immediately felt right.”
AboutAlberto Bravin
Alberto was born in Trieste, on Italy’s north-eastern border with Slovenia.
His involvement in music began at the age of three when he started taking piano lessons. Later on, he developed an interest in electronic keyboards and synthesizers and this paved the way for his love of progressive rock music.
At the age of 17, Alberto began studying opera singing at the Trieste Conservatory and after a couple of years, he moved to London where he graduated in modern singing. Alongside his singing and piano playing, Alberto is also a self-taught guitarist, bassist, and drummer.
After his studies in London, Alberto returned to Trieste where he opened his own recording studios (Echoes Recording Studios) and released two albums (Sinestesia and The Day After Flower) with his band Sinestesia (featuring Alberto, Roby De Micheli, Alessandro Sala, and Paolo Marchesich of Rhapsody Of Fire). Both albums were produced by Franz Di Cioccio of Italian progressive rock legends PFM – Premiata Forneria Marconi. Alberto also recorded and mixed Rhapsody Of Fire’s eleventh album, 2016’s Into The Legend.
In 2015 Alberto joined PFM (alongside Marco Sfogli) as a singer and additional guitarist and keyboard player. With PFM he played around 200 shows, both in Italy and worldwide, and released two albums (2017’s Emotional Tattoos and 2021’s I Dreamed Of Electric Sheep). Alberto is a Beatles fanatic and at the same time a progressive rock and metal aficionado.
Big Big Train is pleased to confirm that their two previously announced UK shows in September 2022 will take place. In addition, the band has scheduled six further shows for September in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and France.
Keyboardist/vocalist Carly Bryant is unable to tour with the band in September 2022 for family reasons. “After over two years of being part of Big Big Train and involved in two studio albums, I was extremely keen to go on the road with the band. However a recent change in my family situation means that sadly I cannot be away from home in the autumn,” Bryant explains. “I love being part of BBT and will be on stage with the band at the earliest opportunity when my family commitments permit.”
Alongside Bravin, D’Virgilio, Spawton, and longstanding guitarist Rikard Sjöblom, the Big Big Train line-up for the September 2022 shows will consist of guitarist Dave Foster, violinist/vocalist Clare Lindley, keyboardist Oskar Holldorff and the Big Big Train brass section led by Dave Desmond. Holldorff leads Norwegian band Dim Gray, whose debut album Flown was much acclaimed last year and who are preparing to release their second album later this year.
“Oskar came to our attention from his work with Dim Gray and is another tremendous talent to involve in Big Big Train,” Sjöblom says. “We’re very grateful to him for stepping in while Carly is unavailable. It’s also exciting that Big Big Train is becoming an increasingly international band – in September we will have an American, a Swede, an Italian, and a Norwegian on stage with the Brits.”
During the September tour, Big Big Train will be playing material from various stages of their career and also one new song.
“We were originally scheduled to play live shows in spring 2020 but then Covid-19 derailed our live plans repeatedly and since then we’ve prepared numerous different setlists,” Sjöblom continues. “We’ve released two full albums since we last played live and are spoilt for choice with the setlist for September.”
“In addition to our UK shows, I’m really looking forward to getting back into continental Europe,” D’Virgilio adds. “As well as visiting the prog strongholds of the Boerderij and Z7, we thought it would be cool to play some smaller venues in France and Germany as we re-establish BBT as a live band. We can’t wait to get out and play again and show what this band can do!”
Legendary Guitarist With Frank Zappa, David Bowie, King Crimson, Talking Heads
First Single “a13” Now Available!
Adrian Belew is a legendary guitarist well-known for his diverse travels around the musical map. He is a multi-instrumentalist whose solo records are critically acclaimed. His moving singing voice and prolific songwriting has endeared a loyal fan base of music lovers. His music is being discovered everyday by more and more listeners thirsty for great music with a creative standard not often pushed by the commercial music industry.
Adrian has signed with Bliss Entertainment, distributed exclusively by Ingrooves Music Group. “Elevator” will be the first Adrian Belew solo recording released through streaming. Adrian and management chose the Ingrooves Music Group channel based on the Ingrooves technology and the Universal global distribution channel. As with all artists, the optimization of music sales revenue is key to picking their distribution and marketing partners. The first single “a13” is now available!
“Elevator” is Adrian’s 25th solo record and as with most of his solo releases, he writes the songs, produces the record, and plays and sings everything. “Elevator” includes 38 of Adrian’s recent digital paintings as well as the lyrics to his songs. There are 12 new songs, ranging from delicate ballads to raging art rock as well as Adrian’s unique brand of avant-pop music.
To promote his new solo album and digital distribution deal, Adrian will be touring the US and Canada this summer starting July 13th in St. Paul, MN. Adrian’s touring trio will include bassist Julie Slick and drummer Johnnie Luca. Adrian describes the “Elevator” show as “part ‘classic’ power trio, new power trio songs never performed before, and a short solo acoustic performance of favorites and new songs from ‘Elevator.’” Adrian will be performing fan favorites spanning his whole career!
Adrian also continues to perform with the Remain In Light tour featuring Adrian and Jerry Harrison, and will finish out the year touring the states as guest artist alongside Todd Rundgren for the “Celebrating David Bowie” show.
Adrian Belew first appeared on the guitar-world radar when he toured with Frank Zappa in 1977 who later said, “Adrian reinvented electric guitar”. Adrian’s signature tones, unique use of effects and whammy bar remains completely different, and his techniques continue to be a huge influence on today’s guitarists. He was guitarist, songwriter and frontman Progressive Rock Powerhouse King Crimson for over 30 years. “Discipline”, Adrian’s first record with King Crimson, is listed among the most important rock records ever made.
Adrian has had a career that commands both awe and respect from fellow musicians and loyal fans, from his first solo record “The Lone Rhino” to the Atlantic Records hit album “Mr. Music Head” or any of his other solo records (25 total) that push sonic boundaries while maintaining artistic integrity. Adrian shreds on guitar but also writes beautiful songs that will make you cry. Yes, Adrian has taken his fans on a wild ride through countless world tours and albums with David Bowie, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, and Paul Simon. He truly is the Twang Bar King!
Tour Dates:
7/13/22 – Turf Club, St. Paul, MN 7/14/22 – Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI 7/15/22 – Arcada Theatre, St. Charles, IL 7/16/22 – Hi-Fi Annex, Indianapolis, IN 7/18/22 – City Winery, Chicago, IL 7/19/22 – City Winery, Chicago, IL 7/21/22 – The Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, OH 7/22/22 – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH 7/23/22 – Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI 7/24/22 – The Oaks Theater, Oakmont, PA 7/26/22 – City Winery, Nashville, TN 7/27/22 – City Winery, Atlanta, GA 7/29/22 – The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC 7/30/22 – City Winery, Washington, DC 7/31/22 – Rams Head, Annapolis, MD 8/1/22 – Ashland Theatre, Ashland, VA 8/3/22 – Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT 8/4/22 – The Flying Monkey, Plymouth, NH 8/5/22 – City Winery, Boston, MA 8/6/22 – The Newton Theatre, Newton, NJ 8/14/22 – Center for the Arts of Homer, Homer, NY 8/16/22 – City Winery, Philadelphia, PA 8/18/22 – City Winery, New York, NY 8/19/22 – The Egg, Albany, NY 8/20/22 – Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT
Envy Of None, the new band and debut self-titled album from Alex Lifeson (Rush), Andy Curran (Coney Hatch), Alfio Annibalini, and singer Maiah Wynne.
A Blacktide Phonic/Visual Production Directed and Produced by Jeremy George Featuring Sapphire Sumpter Assistant: Synaet Nin
About Envy Of None Alex Lifeson is no stranger to the concept of evolution. As a founding member of Rush, he’s been able to explore more musical ground than just about any other guitar player out there – taking rock to new progressive heights throughout the decades and always in the most wildly inventive of ways. His influence can be heard on countless bands around the world, from indie shoegaze and math rock to heavy metal and beyond. Over the last few years, Lifeson has been focusing on a new project that, no matter how well-acquainted you are with his discography, will undoubtedly shatter all seeds of expectation and blow the mind. That project is Envy Of None.
The new band, also featuring Coney Hatch founder/bassist Andy Curran, an accomplished producer and engineer Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, will be releasing their self-titled debut album on April 8 via Kscope. Its 11 tracks – which ricochet between various shades of alternative, experimental, and synth-rock – throw surprises at every turn, twisting dark melodies against contemporary pop hooks. Lifeson himself is proudly aware of how little of it crosses over with the band that made him famous.
However, it was only when singer Maiah Wynne became involved that this truly started to feel like a band destined to go somewhere. Her haunting melodies and soul-baring intensity is – by the admission of her own bandmates – what truly brought this music to life. All things considered; she is a star in the making… “I sent over an early version of the song Shadow,” explains Andy Curran. “When I played what she’d done back to the others they were like, ‘Who is this crazy talented person?!’”
The industrial beats, driving fuzz bass and atmospheric guitars concoct a seductive swirl indeed – thrilling in ways closer to the darker art rock of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and A Perfect Circle than anything these musicians have been known for prior.
“Maiah became my muse,” continues Alex Lifeson. “She was able to bring this whole new ethereal thing through her sense of melody on tracks like Liar and Look Inside. After hearing her vocals on Never Said I Love You, I felt so excited. I’ve never had that kind of inspiration working with another musician. When we say she’s special, it’s because she’s really fucking special!”
“One of my favorite things about these songs is the intimacy of them,” reveals Maiah Wynne. “It makes them feel different and more honest. There are some heavier songs too, like Enemy, and then tracks like Kabul Blues, that sound completely different to anything else.”
The album closer, Western Sunset, was penned by Alex Lifeson in tribute to his dear friend Neil Peart. It’s a highly emotive piece of music to honor a man deeply missed by the rock community at large, and even more so by those who were lucky enough to know him. “I visited Neil when he was ill,” says Alex Lifeson. “I was on his balcony watching the sunset and found inspiration. There’s a finality about a sunset that kinda stayed with me throughout the whole process. It had meaning. It was the perfect mood to decompress after all these different textures… a nice way to close the book.”
Ltd Edition deluxe version – Gatefold sleeve with a blue LP, 2 CDs including a 5 track bonus disc, 28-page Booklet with exclusive content CD – includes a 16-page poster booklet LP – on black vinyl / baby blue colored vinyl (North America exclusive) / white colored vinyl
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