Fans of French progressive rock act Nine Skies should pay attention. The bands keyboard player Anne-Claire Rallo, widow of the late Eric Bouillette (former guitarist of the band), initiated a new project. Frant1c is her solo endeavour running alongside her other band Nine Skies, and was brought to life following the loss of her partner. A Brand New World is the title of the first album that will put Frant1c on the progressive rock map. A Brand New World is a concept album just as all of the album releases of Nine Skies were. The story is about Charlie and Hope, who have always spent their lives together. One fine day, Charlie wakes up alone in the middle of a completely different and devastated world. He then goes in search of his soul mate, pondering:'What is this world?'. The discoveries and new encounters he makes throughout his adventure to find Hope invite us to reflect on various feelings and questions that are as universal as they are personal to each of us. To bring this story alive some excellent music was written, very much in the same musical direction of Nine Skies. To record this music some very well known names from the progressive rock scene were invited to come up with the best possible soundtrack for this fantasy story. Of course there is Anne-Claire Rallo (guitars, keyboards, piano, arrangements). But also participating is Alexandre Lamia (guitars, keyboards, piano, arrangements), her fellow band member in Nine Skies. The earlier mentioned Eric Bouillette can also be heard on the album on guitars, violin, piano and backing vocals. Furthermore is very important former Grey Lady Down and current The Room singer Martin Wilson. His fantastic vocals are used for the part of Charlie in the story. The parts of his female friend Hope are wonderfully done by Helen Tiron. The spoken voice parts were done by Andy Rowe. The rhythm section includes Nine Skies bassist Alexis Bietti and former Marillion drummer Johnny Marter. Guest appearances were done by Laurent Benhamou, who played saxophone on the first single Where Have You Been?. Steve Anderson did an amazing guitar solo on On The Run. Finally Guy Marro did some vocals on Come Back To Earth. They asked the well known John Mitchell (Lonely Robot, Arena, Asia, Frost*) for overseeing the mixing and mastering. All of the ten compositions are of a very high musical level. Each musician delivered amazing parts throughout the entire album. Without any doubt it is the vocal performances of the earlier mentioned Martin Wilson that's lifts this album to an even higher level. I really love his parts without disrespecting the other musicians. The beautiful keyboard parts on the synthesizers and piano have to be mentioned as well. They never show off but are always there to tell the story. The songs have a fine balance between more mellow and aggressive parts if the story needs it. Sometimes there is also beautiful, more subdued music to give a more narrative direction. This way they are building the story in a beautiful way. As for the lovers of excellent guitar parts there is enough to enjoy. Listen for example to The Ballad Of Peggy Pratt and enjoy a great guitar solo. Just as you can also enjoy on Sweet Confusion. But also the earlier mentioned Steve Anderson did an amazing guitar solo on On The Run. Difficult to mention any highlights because the whole album is one musical highlight. But I guess the earlier mentioned songs with the excellent guitar parts belong for me to the best album tracks. Above all, it is clear that we are dealing with a very professional sounding album that most people in the progressive rock scene will like without any doubt. Therefore I can only highly recommend A Brand New World. The first musical endeavour of Frant1c turned out one big success if you should ask me! So well done! **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
