“Let the morning in and the day begin / Wash the night away / There’s a place in here / She will keep you near / Don’t look the other way!” How do you open a lyric like that? I mean, how do you open a lyric like that? There’s no way a lyric that has a poetic structure with its fantasy, symphonic, and wonderous arrangement to start the day off with a bang, thanks to the world of Solstice.
When you think of the new wave of British prog at the beginning of the 1980s, you think of bands such as Marillion, Pendragon, Pallas, IQ, but one band who were championed by people like Prog editor-in-chief Jerry Ewing and Steven Wilson, who first saw the band at the Cellar Club in Hemel, Hempstead on September 30, 1982. Followed by a second time at the Queensway Hall in Dunstable on November 11th the same year.
So, you can get an understanding on why Steven is not only a champion, but a true fan of the band’s music. For me, I got into Solstice after reading about them in PROG Magazine, many years ago.
Buying their first album (Silent Dance) on iTunes, and then the Prophecy album from the Syn-Phonic Music website, because Steven had remixed three tracks from the Silent Dance album, and the incredible artwork done by Barry Kitson (2000 AD, Doctor Strange, Empire, Batgirl Special (her final mission before the tragic events of Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke), Batman, and The Avengers).
Then, I had completely forgotten about them. Until now. It was announced that they’re unleashing a live album, covering their performance last year at Fairport’s Cropredy Festival, marking 25 years the last time they played there. Not only that, but a documentary entitled New Light, directed by Shawn Blake, which covers the band’s history from 1980 to this year.
So, it is time to take a look at their previous album Light Up, released on the Giant Electric Pea label. Light Up is a very unique kind of album Solstice put out in 2022. I don’t know why it slipped under my radar, but when I put the album on my iPod touch, I knew I was about to embark on something wonderful, and something melodic the moment their music comes to life on their seventh studio album.
The opening title-track lifts your feet off the ground and takes you up towards the heavens, thanks to Jess Holland’s harmonizing vocalizations, Glass’ guitar driven spike, organ and violin textures, and some Gabriel-like acoustic guitar midsection, followed by a funked-up groove between Robin Phillips’ bass, Jenny Newman’s fiddle, and Pete Hemsley’s drum work, they all blend well to have each other’s back.
‘Wongle No. 9’ sounds like a heavier rocking arrangement at first, thanks to Phillips’ bass funk vibe, reminiscing the Headhunters-era, carrying on where ‘Chameleon’ had left off before Glass lays down some slick bluesy arrangements and Newman setting up the controls to reach for the stars. It does have reminisce by going back to the Silent Dance years at first, but once they lay into The Raven that Refused to Sing, Herbie Hancock and ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’ territory, they know they’re proving themselves they’re more than just a prog band.
Solstice have been gathering source materials very well. Newman lays down some Celtic arrangements by kicking the door down, entering ‘Mount Ephraim’.
Jenny keeps the pace up by making sure the rhythm section follows her in hot pursuit in these blistering hot suns gathering up this Sahara Desert storm approaching Egypt before it goes into a hectic frenzy. Holland’s double-tracking vocal lines adds in the mystery behind the stories of the mountains that have never been told, but through codes and surreal-like wonders that come to life.
Glass’ echoing reverb’s begins the search to find the lost treasure which is detailed on ‘Run’ with its levitating atmosphere while ‘Home’ returns back to its earlier days which not only speaking of their first album, but reflecting the times of Marillion’s Script of a Jester’s Tear, making sure they haven’t forgotten the bands that have been around during that time frame.
Closing up shop is the 10-minute middle-eastern walk into life of the ‘Bulbul Tarang’. They reached the end of the mountain top while Jess sings her heart and soul throughout the composition, letting the sun rise up to start a brand-new day. Glass’ solo arrangements brings in the climatic burst of energy throughout the song before opening up the door to see the band celebrate and have the time of their lives, with an accomplishment that gives each and every sense of the word, rejoice.
Light Up isn’t just an incredible album, its an album that fills your heart with joy. Solstice have proven once more that they can really deliver the goods by being the guardians of a brave new world in all of its true form. And we got to experience the adventure in all of its glory!
