If your penchant is for the atmospheric and contemplative, then this thoughtful slice of prog might well be for you. The brainchild of Sussex-based musician Jules Bangs, it tells the story of an old ship’s ill-fated journey through a series of sparse but evocative orchestral vignettes that succeed in drawing you deep into its ghostly waters.
It’s a quiet, yet emblematic work; Crucified Waltz’s slowly undulating rhythms bring to mind a vessel slowly drifting across the ocean, the mix of barely-there piano and synth recalling Brian Eno’s early ambient experiments, while Interlope warns of trouble at sea with atonal jazz harmonies, before a sublimely sluggish bass-line carries the song to a gentle close. Later, 38 Degrees West’s fractured guitars suggest the twisted metal of the stricken craft as the enveloping deep ocean is evoked in the beautiful Too Dark To See, with echoed swells softly washing over ethereal waves.
At just over 35 minutes it’s a brief, but substantial debut that charts its course through a plethora of influences to deliver a work of stark and engaging originality.
