mobiUS release Make the Promise

by | Mar 9, 2022 | New Releases, News

mobiUS are an English Progressive Rock group. Their eclectic style echo artists such as Pink Floyd, Yes and Porcupine Tree. They build on this established and imaginative genre and have developed a style unique to themselves. White Knight are excited to be working with this band, who will shake the world of progressive rock and become a major player.

The band was first imagined as a concept by the composer and keyboard player Tim Newcombe back in 2012.
He began writing and after several experiments with various musicians, the concept lay dormant. However, Tim remained frustrated with the offerings by mass market mundane radio stations and vowed to produce something which had the spark of originality.

In 2020 Tim met Alistair McCaig at a music venue in the South of England. Tim shared his ideas and enthusiasm for the genre and Alistair’s experience within the production and mastering space opened the door to the creation of mobiUS Tim had played session with the drummer Andy Clifton and knew by reputation the burgeoning talents of the irrepressible Andy Hughes on guitar and vocals and swiftly moved to establish the vital core of the group. From there Tim enlisted his wife Louise to sing harmonies and play the soulful saxophone riffs that are so evocative in ‘Rain another Day’ Bringing in Sandra Morris and Monika Welch to enrich the performance with their gospel-esque style, was the final puzzle piece in the creation of mobiUS.

During late 2020 and the early months of 2021, Tim was fully engaged in writing and distributing material to the rest of the band. All recording was carried out remotely due to covid restrictions and the final mixes and masters were completed in April with an album release date of 23rd May 2021

A chance meeting led them to a partnership with Caerlyssi Music and White Knight Records, through whom, mobiUS are unleashed onto the world with their unique and immersive style.

In a recent interview, Tim was asked about his motivation and inspiration for the ‘Make the Promise’ album:
“This is a collection of musical ideas I’ve been mulling over for some time. I am passionate that music should be a deep form of expression. Something that transcends the standard chord progressions and lyrical subjects of much contemporary music. It seems to me that imagination and ideas are constrained by what is considered a standard chord progression, or fettered by time. I especially like a song or tune to evolve. To develop. To exist and breath as an identity by itself. I love to experiment with time signatures, styles, tempo and timbre changes within the same piece.This allows the piece find it’s own direction analogous to a stream finding its way through a variety of terrains” This brings us nicely to his description of the album.

Watch mobiUS Rain Another Day. Official Video here


Track Breakdown:

  1. Odyssey
    As the name suggests, this instrumental carries the listener on a voyage of musical discovery. Superficially, it’s a journey into the world, from comfort to danger and returning home. However, subconsciously it evolved into a story of my personal musical journey. Reflective and returning to my roots and love of progressive music. This piece is subdivided into sections – Farewell, Borderland, Beyond, One Step Closer, Alone, Louise’s Theme/Sunshine Eyes, Sub-Fractal, City of a Million Dreams, Escape, Home. Each imbued with excitement, melancholy, drama, peace and hope as befits the particular episode of the track.
  2. Rain Another Day
    My mother was the muse behind this track. The ethos of the song is moving forward. Keep hold of the past, remember and treasure it. However there is a time to keep those memories but think of the future. As the lines of the song state ‘Embrace the morning sunshine, move towards the summertime’ The piano is evocative of a range of emotions and Andy’s strident vocals bring them to life
  3. So They Tell Me
    A song about mental health. In particular multiple personality disorders. I hope that it comes across as sensitive. My intention was not to be flippant or sensationalist about this. The complexity in rhythm and the deep and sometimes ethereal layering of timbre’s create a captivating and engaging pastiche.
  4. Spider
    It wouldn’t be right or correct to not include a track about the pressures of writing or producing music. This song is in fact about that and is an allegory for achievement in any scenario. It’ a song about juggling priorities. Commitments that you may feel inclined to hold onto that directly compete with dreams, aspirations and ambitions. We all face it, we al go through it and we all manage it. Why not make a song about it!

Track Listing
1. Odyssey 1.1 Farewell – 1:50
1.2 Borderland – 2:35
1.3 And Beyond – 3:38
1.4 One Step Closer – 5:33
1.5 Alone – 7:00
1.6 Louise’s Theme/Sunshine Eyes- 11:07
1.7 Sub Fractal – 11:50 1.8 City of a Million Dreams – 14:14

Line up:
Andy Hughes Vocals Guitar
Tim Newcombe Keyboards
Andy Clifton Drums
Alistair McCaig Bass
Louise Newcombe Backing Vocals, sax
Monika Welch Backing Vocals
Sandra. Morris Backing Vocals

Credits: All songs written by Tim Newcombe
Recording Engineer Tim Newcombe
Recorded at BlueSkies Studios
Mastered by Alistair McCaig 

mobiUS Online:
https://www.mobius-prog.com
https://www.facebook.com/mobiUSProg/
https://mobius3.bandcamp.com

LIFE IN DIGITAL – SIGNS TO THE FAR SIDE – WHITE KNIGHT RECORDS

by | May 13, 2020 | Album Review

Life In Digital were formed in 2016 by John Beagley and Robin Schell, and this is their second album together. Doing some research, it appears that Robin Schell was in the running to become singer for Yes at one point in the late Eighties, and if that is true it wouldn’t have surprised me as she is very similar in some way to Jon Anderson: I actually thought it was probably Jon Davison singing until I looked at the press release. I don’t know who played what on the album, but the result is something which is very synth-driven, and when the band say the album is inspired by 80’s Yes together with Buggles, I couldn’t have put it much better myself, although probably more to the latter than the former. The vocals are great, and the songs interesting, but there really is too much in the way of synthesisers, and the lack of proper drums is a real issue here. I would like to see these guys morph away from being just a duo and become more of a full band with less reliance on studio overdubbing and layering, using more real instruments.

I have seen some absolutely rave reviews for this album online, but for me this is interesting and enjoyable without ever stepping up to the next level. I enjoyed it, and I am sure any fans of the two aforementioned bands will get something from it, but there is not enough depth and solidity within this for me to say anything more positive about it. There are some string guitar lines and solos here and there, but not enough to be consistently powerful and driving. I haven’t heard the debut so don’t know if there has been any change between the two, but it will be interesting to see what the next one is like and if they have moved on, as then it could be very good indeed.
6/10 Kev Rowland