From the moment Roine Stolt goes into his Lenny Kravitz-like approach on the riff introduction behind ‘We Claim the Moon’, you know this is going to be one hell of a roller-coaster ride you’ll never forget. There’s no denying that The Flower Kings are still growing stronger every day since their formation back in their hometown in Sweden nearly 32 years ago.
Their seventeenth studio album Love, which is their follow-up to their previous release Look At You Now, shows that Stolt has the power and vision to keep the progressive genre alive, and never back down without a fight. Of course, they have a strong bond with the love of Yes, but its more than just that, it’s the brotherhood that keeps the spirit alive.
The album cover bears some striking nods to the late, great Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, and the steampunk vibe that covers the Victorian-era of the 20th century in the circus that citizens would go and see in the tents, to be in awe and wowed upon. ‘The Elder’ which clocks in at 11-minutes and 9 seconds, feels like something straight out of Fruupp’s The Prince of Heaven’s Eyes, continuing the legacy of the Swan Princess franchise in its 2D animation form of Princess Odette’s adventures that wait for her.
You gotta love Larson’s mellotron and grand piano setting up the operatic form with a hymn-like approach to the song and Froberg’s soulful extension to the piece before Roine nails it down from his guitar solo then lending in his vocal styles to ascend towards the heavens.
The smoky nightclub vibes behind ‘How Can You Leave Us Now’ can make you feel uncomfortable, being lost in the middle of this desertry landscape, but bringing in a sense of finding your true self to re-discover the precious moments you had in your childhood before The Flower Kings open the door and enter into Starcastle’s territory with Larson’s synths cooperating with the band’s golden-era between Citadel and Fountains of Light and Larry Fast’s Synergy on the instrumental piece ‘World Spinning’.
Then, it segues into this throat-singing terror coming out of the rising waters on ‘Burning Both Edges’. This is where the Kings themselves have a true admiration of the hymns and pastoral textures to rise across the landscapes and walking into ‘The Rubble’ with its beat poet structure Roine and the team tackle.
I can really hear the Traffic influences in the midsection which speaks of an expanded edition of ‘Glad’ from John Barleycorn Must Die and the laid-back percussion groove DeMaio envisions in the coffee shops back in the early 1960s and then bringing in the epic boundaries to a standstill. The mellotronic midsection behind ‘Love Is’, shows The Flower Kings going into a lullaby section, taking listeners into Little Nemo’s Slumberland with its beautiful designs and McCay-like illustrations, coming to life for the climatic last minute where the band give Nemo a chance to succeed in his mission to stop the Nightmare King, once and for all.
‘Considerations’ closes Love with its 10-minute epic by bringing the story to an end. Large, arising keyboards and going into the A Trick of the Tail-era from Genesis, makes it all worth the wait. This is The Flower Kings at their best, and as I’ve mentioned earlier, not backing down without a fight. There’s the gospel, killer guitar work, keyboard scores, you can’t get much better than that.
Love is another crowning achievement from the band, they know they are keeping the music on a higher level each time the music gets better and better. While I’m not a massive fan of the King’s work, I have the utmost respect for them to really keep going. Maybe its time for me to go back and see what I had been missing. If you’re new to the band’s music, then Love is the best way to start.
