I first came across the duo of Nicklas Flinck and Carl Westholm with the release of their second album, ‘Superhero’, back in 2003. But although I also heard ‘Man Made Machine’ in 2005 it wasn’t until 2018 that I finally heard the next two albums. But after 2010’s ‘Nymf’ the band took a break, only coming back in 2017 to produce ‘Emerger’ (which I have yet to hear). There was so much energy coming out of the sessions that the day after the release party they were back in the studio, and ‘Subimago’ is the result of that. Looking back at my reviews from 15 years ago, I stated they were very influenced by Floyd but my review of ‘Nymf’ said just how much they had changed, and this is a direct continuation. This is modern melodic progressive rock with some keyboard sounds dragging it firmly back into the Seventies, yet with wonderful hooks and harmonies which makes one also think very much of the Nineties.
There is a lot of guitar at times, but also plenty of keyboards, and this is very much a rock album with wonderful vocals which is both instantly enjoyable as well as demanding further listening. The sheer accessibility of this is a delight, and the more one plays it the more there is to discover as there are hidden depths which take time to uncover and unpeel. IQ, Jadis, Flower Kings, Anekdoten, Galahad and so many others have imparted some influences into Carptree yet at the same time they are quite unlike any of them. The nature of being a duo, combining with NFO (No future Orchestra, who have the same personnel as last time) is very different to others. Combining this with focus on analogue instruments and amplifiers together with an analogue master results in a warm, organic and highly diversified album with a detailed texture. Let’s hope the momentum continues as we all need to hear more music from these guys. http://www.carptree.com
The Swedish duo with friends is releasing their 7th full-length album both energized and inspired by making their last release and in a much shorter time than usual. The recordings started the very same day as the release Party for “Emerger”. After the long hiatus after Nymf there was momentum enough for more than one release with a band now perfectly calibrated and compositions given time to grow. Here you get the distinctly familiar Carptree sound and something completely new.
As always NFO (No future orchestra) is present with the same personnel as last time. With a distinct focus on analog instruments and amplifiers and finally an analog master the result is a warm, organic and highly diversified album with a detailed texture.
The album is called Subimago, hinting development and transformance and the album is a hybrid in simplicity and complexity in both music and lyrics.
Welcome / By Your Own Choice / World Without Mind / Instead Of Life / Celestial Sky / Someone Else ́s Play / Eye Of The Storm / Sum Of All Senses
Swedish Prog Ensemble Carptree Recording New Album “Emerger” To Be Released On Reingold Records!
Sweden – Swedish prog ensemble Carptree will be releasing their new video titled “Fleeting Deep” in February. The track comes from their highly anticipated forthcoming album “Emerger” to be released on April 7th!
Carptree is a Swedish progressive symphonic rock duo made featuring Carl Westholm (keyboards, composer, producer) and Nicklas Flinck (vocals, composer, lyrics). Although Carptree is a duo they are almost always accompanied by the No Future Orchestra (NFO); A group of people from known and unknown other Swedish acts, who add their personal touch, more or less frequent. This is also the basis for other important people (OIP) who are also a part of the creative process in the making of a Carptree album.
Says the band, “This album was a really slow starter, we started already in 2014 with some of the songs, the first two song was ‘Fleeting Deep’ and ‘Ultimately Lifeless’ which both have taken a lot of different shapes along the process. ‘Between Extremes’ is also a song that has been around in different shapes for many years, first we recorded it in 2009, but was not happy and cut it down to a short version which ended up on Nymf ‘Between Extremes, Prelude’, then rewrote it and planned to release it as a single in 2012 but was not happy with the result. So again we rewrote it and when we recorded it with Jesper Skarin on the drums and Carl rerecorded everything with just his Fender Rhodes and organ and we were finally happy with it. That’s why we wanted to release that song already in May 2016 as a Maxi single to give that special song a chance to stand on it’s own.”
“A coherent jewel of preogressive rock” – Metal observer
As always the duo used the “No Future Orchestra” on the new album, which is a loosely connected group of musicians very important to Carptree. Also on this album Jesper Skarin joined in on drums and percussion and Carl has played some bass and guitars. Except the mellotrons that are taken from a sampler software, all instruments and amplifiers on this album are analogue just as the mix and mastering.
On the CD there will be 8 songs including a remixed version of “Dwindle Into Greatness” (The B-side of the Maxi single released in May 2016) as a bonus track. The vinyl version will have the other 7 tracks and will be release approximately one month after the CD on the FOSFOR Creation label. (Two versions, Black and transparent Marine blue)
“You can´t get better music than this” – Progressiveworld.net
The progressive duo Carptree was formed in 1997 in Stockholm, Sweden, by the songwriters Niclas Flinck, vocals, and Carl Westholm, keyboards and production. Under the years 2001-2010 they released 5 albums and did some live performances. The Album “Superhero” in 2003 was the first to gain a wide popularity among prog listeners around the world. “Man made machine” in 2005 was release both on their own label FOSFOR Creation and Insideout and got an even wider distribution, then followed by “Insekt” 2007 and “Nymf” in 2010 where the latter also was released as a Vinyl LP in 2011 by Ritual echo records. Carl Westholm has apart from this project been a member of some heavy Metal acts like Candlemass, Krux and Avatarium and lately live keyboard player with Tiamat. Between 2008 and 2013 he also released three albums under the name Jupiter Society and has also played on some Declan Burke albums.
The newest member of No Future Orchestra is Jesper Skarin on drums known from Swedish acts like Vak and Switch Open and others. Even though Niclas and Carl writes and produce everything No Future Orchestra is way more than just a bunch of hired guns as they have over the years contributed a lot of creative input and support.
For all of you that long for music with integrity and diversity, open you arms for the “Emerger”, Carptree is back!
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