DOWNES BRAIDE ASSOCIATION : CELESTIAL SONGS

1. Look What You Do
2. Clear Light
3. Keep on Moving
4. Darker Side of Fame
5. Hey Kid
6. Will to Power
7. Heart Shaped Hole
8. Dear Petra
9. On the Run
10. Goodbye to You (Sister Shame)
11. Beyond the Stars

Label : Cherry Red Records

Release Date : 2023

Length : 67:40

Review (ProgWereld) : We zijn aanbeland bij het vijfde album van DBA oftewel Downes Braide Association. Geoff Downes en Chris Braide vormen alweer elf jaar een stel. Samen maken ze een geweldige mix van symfonische rock en pakkende pop. Een combinatie van stijlen waar ik altijd voor te porren ben. Goede symfonische pop heeft pakkende melodieën en een refrein dat beklijft. Het symfonische heeft idealiter een ondersteunende rol, met als doel om het geheel te verrijken. Op het vorige album “Halcyon Hymns” kreeg het symfonische een grotere rol. Daarmee was het album wat uit balans. Op dit album keert het duo terug naar de basis die op eerdere albums zo goed werd gelegd. Een song als Darker Side of Fame is een schoolvoorbeeld van een goede symfonische popsong. Het refrein zing je meteen mee en het heeft een prettige vaart. De gitaarsolo van Dave Bainbridge (ex-Iona, Lifesigns) is kort en puntig en smaakt naar meer. Als je goed oplet, herken je ook de stem van Marc Almond (Soft Cell). Zijn stem mixt mooi met die van Braide. Niet alles is even sterk. Hey Kid komt bijvoorbeeld niet echt uit de verf. Het kabbelt wat voort en voor je het weet zit je met je gedachten ergens anders. Hetzelfde geldt voor Dear Petra, dat overigens wel een mooie tekst heeft. Goodbye to You (Sister Shame) schreef het duo samen met Andy Partridge (XTC). Het doet denken aan een Paul McCartney-song. Het heeft een fijne vibe en Downess doet mooie dingen op zijn Hammond orgel. Aan het eind steelt Bainbridge de show met een heerlijke gitaarsolo. Deze man stelt nooit teleur! Heart Shaped Hole is een van de langere nummers. Het handelt over het thema eenzaamheid. Braide moest denken aan een artiest die na de show alleen in de kleedkamer zit. Het applaus is verstild, je vrienden en familie zijn ver weg en daar zit je dan alleen. De zanglijnen zijn prachtig. Het middenstuk is gereserveerd voor de toetsen van Downess en de gitaar van Bainbridge, die prachtig duelleren. Het afsluitende Beyond The Stars is het langste van het stel. De orkestraties van Downes krijgen alle ruimte. Toch lukt het niet om de volle tien minuten te overtuigen. Met name in het laatste deel wordt het wat gezapig en gaat het nummer als een nachtkaars uit. Nee, doe mij maar de sterke kortere poppy songs die je helemaal weten in te pakken. Zoals Look What You Do, Clear Light en Will to Power. Daarin is het duo op zijn sterkst. “Celestial Songs” is niet hun beste album, maar staat zeker wel in de top drie. Op naar het volgende hoofdstuk!

Review (The Spirit Of Progressive Rock) : Geoff Downes and Chris Braide return with their fifth studio album, Celestial Songs, a collection of songs reflecting on life and death, time, love, nostalgia, and spirituality. That is not to say that the album is in anyway overly serious or depressing. Unlike the pastoral-prog of the duo’s previous release, the bucolic Halcyon Hymns, there is a noticeable shift towards a more classic rock vein, although the familiar pop music flavourings are never far away. The working relationship that Geoff and Chris have is a fruitful one, with the exchange of ideas creating a direction for what the songs, and the album more generally, will sound like. “I know that Chris really likes the depth of chord sequences that I put together,” Geoff Downes explains. “This particular collection just really grabbed him and he got it up and running very, very quickly, so I was really pleased about that”. From that starting point the duo have created a very diverse album, shifting in moods and meanings, and from simplicity to the much more intricate. Look What You did, the opening track, is quite a sorrowful sounding song, while Clear Light is quite dark, although there is a positive message coming through. Keep On Moving has echoes of DBAs previous album, as it deals with nostalgia and looking back at the formative times in a person’s life. Darker Side Of Fame is, again, quite close to both Geoff and Chris as it reflects on the losses in the music world, and the shock of having witnessed some of the casualties. Hey Kid muses on the problem of guns in society and the wish to make sure that one’s own children are protected from them. Will To Power is about finding the bright spot in any dark hour and transcending with it into something positive. Heart Shaped Hole, is kind of a mini-epic (if such a thing can exist!) and is a reflection on loneliness. Dear Petra deals with the immense abuse of children from many points of view, but with the impact of wars such as the Ukrainian conflict specifically to the forefront. On The Run is a driving piece that is about avoiding the demons that challenge you, a warning to watch out for the things that can have you on the run. It shares the Blues based facility of finding the positivity in adversity. Goodbye To You (Sister Shame) is a slightly longer piece on the album and was co-written with Andy Partridge. It is a look at life. Beyond The Stars is the albums longest track, clocking in at a little over ten minutes. It becomes a little more philosophical in stance than much of the album, pondering on what happens to love when a life’s journey is over. It is not intended to be a maudlin piece though; it retains a celebratory element. Chris explains; “DBA’s music has always been about the big questions, the beauty of love and the tragedy of loss, but always with hope, I suppose. ‘Celestial Songs’ is the latest chapter in that series. I hope people enjoy listening to the album as much as we enjoyed writing it and making it.” Although the album deals with some heady issues then, it is not in any sense a syrupy, overly sentimental one. The duo’s light touch is well to the fore. Instead of forebodingly grandiose music, their pop sensibilities are rarely strayed from and some of the songs are quite melodically catchy. Others can be quite atmospheric. Geoff and Chris are again aided and abetted by a number of guests. As you can imagine, the standard of musicianship is high throughout. Besides the incredible skills of the duo themselves, they are joined again by bassist Andy Hodge who DBA considers to be an intrinsic element of the band, able to create, with a great feel, interesting and pertinent bass parts from the material provided by the duo. Also, for this release the band have invited former Iona guitarist and keyboard player Dave Bainbridge, also currently with Lifesigns, who brings the melodic fluidity of his sound. Former It Bites man Francis Dunnery makes some telling contributions. Also guesting again is former Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who provides a cameo performance of some backing vocals on Darker Side Of Fame, where he blends exceptionally well with Chris Braide. Noted prog-rock cover artist Roger Dean once again provides a very apposite painting for the cover artwork that keys in with the lyrics and music very well indeed. The album will be released in three formats: CD, 2LP and Box Set. The box-set includes 1xdigipack CD, 12" Purple vinyl, a signed 12×12 special edition print and brand new artwork by Roger Dean. Without being a seismic change, this is a different album indeed to DBAs previous album, Halcyon Hymns. The laid-back tranquillity of that release being replaced by something a little more classic rocking, without giving way to the vagaries of something overtly heavy. The lyrical meaning maybe portentous but the music does not lapse into that. It passes through the gears when it needs too but generally tends towards atmosphere setting. There’s a kernel of The Beatles every now and again, indeed Goodbye To You (Sister Shame) becomes quite McCartneyesque at times. The songs are finely crafted and excellently played, and it is nuanced and subtle in production. The album lacks the flamboyance that you find with other artists in the progressive rock world, but it creates a sound world of its own with textures and characterful as befitting. This is a fine release from DBA.