At the end of 2024 a Music video on Facebook caught my attention. It was described as a tribute to Rush. And indeed it sounded very much like this Canadian progressive rock act. The artist responsible for the amazing song with the title Clouds Begin Their Reign was the British singer and multi-instrumentalist James Hollingsworth. It thought WOW!!! I need to have a copy of the album with this song. It turned out it was track taken from the album Thirteen Moons. An album already released in 2021. So I contacted the musician for a review copy plus a review copy of the album Lost In The Winds Of Time (2024, see review) he had just released with keyboard player Steve Griffiths. The album's title Thirteen Moons derives from there being thirteen lunar cycles in one year, following on from James' numerologically inspired album cycle, which began in on 07/07/07 with Seventh String. Thirteen Moons, as well as being an album, was a journey of a lunar year through thirteen singles mediated by live action and lyric videos on YouTube. The 1st single Far Away From Home was released exclusively on iTunes with the album release following a week later on the very palindromic Chinese New Year of the Ox, a New Snow Moon and a New Music Friday to boot - 12/02/2021. At last, at the thirteenth new moon, the thirteenth single, Privately Minded, marked 2/2/22. The launch message from James at the time: "Thanks for stopping by today! I always planned to go back and remaster my album 13 Moons when I first released it back in 2013. At the time we were emerging from the recession, and after moving from Bristol to Frome I needed a new CD to sell at my gigs, so put the songs together and got back on the road. Then, with constant gigging, 2 more quick albums, moving house a lot (long story), designing and building a Permaculture garden and btw ending up doing all right playing small venues around the UK but... knowing... all the while... I needed to go back and finish Thirteen Moons! That annus horribilis of the 2020 pandemic definitely gave me the push the project needed". The completely remixed, remastered and repackaged version of Thirteen Moons was finally ready for global release on the palindromic Friday 12 February 2021. With many tracks having new instruments and guest performances added, plus collaborating remotely with producer John Burns (famous for his work with Genesis, John Martyn, Jethro Tull and others) on mixing/mastering and compiling into a new running order, the project grew way beyond a simple remastering job. When you hear James Hollingsworth's original music you hear his original take on classic Pop/Rock, Blues and more. You might say his music is an acoustic fusion of folk, blues, trance, metal and progressive rock. But the main focus is most of all on folk kind of tunes performed on the acoustic guitar. Acoustic music with interesting rhythms and narrative lyrics, sometimes with help from several guest musicians to dress up the songs. Such as James' long-time collaborator Sean McBride who appears on sax and flute, accompanied by Sandro Granda with his intuitive percussion on Faster Than Light, and Cheryl Louise, who added superbly relaxed drums to Privately Minded. But also the band JEBO contributed, like you can hear on the first single Far Away From Home. But also worked with Bristol-based songwriter and multi-media extraordinaire Jason Flinter, who with lyricist Jackie Spindley, created Breathing It In. The great album opener with a bright pop-rock sound. James remixed the final version gently subverting the radio-friendly mood of the song with a long fade out as if the whole planet is fading out into its own dream. Both Privately Minded and Sea Of Enrichment were co-written by James and Jason during some very productive sessions in 2011. Privately Minded was originally twice the tempo of the version that appears here, but by a quirk of serendipity some audio-conversion-glitch created a slower version which had the right vibe for the kind of album he had in mind for Thirteen Moons. The earlier mentioned Clouds Begin Their Reign was written by Jason with James' voice in mind, an original tribute to the legendary Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Rush. James was delighted to be invited to sing, long having been a fan of the band. There are also some Live Loop songs on the album, showcasing the Boomerang III Phrase Sampler, including Saturn Ruin with additional keyboard parts done by the earlier mentioned Steve Griffiths. While listening to the album you could say that his influences range from Roy Harper though to John Martyn and Jethro Tull. So with many influences from the 70's & 80's. But also Rush can be heard as I already mentioned earlier. Unfortunately only on one musical piece. Clouds Begin Their Reign, the songs that made me contact this musician. It is for me without any doubt the musical highlight on this release. Because it is 100% progressive rock that comes out of the speakers when you put it on. The voice of James comes close to the voice of Geddy Lee and the instrumental parts the musicians of Rush could not have done it any better! Only too bad that not more of this kind of musical compositions were included on Thirteen Moons! Does it mean that Thirteen Moons is not a progressive rock album? Of course not! But is one of the many influences that you hear on this album next to influences taken from folk, blues, pop and rock. Therefore you can say that this almost 80 minutes long album is a beautiful melting pot of different musical styles. A nice album, but I have to admit that I prefer his collaboration with Steve Griffiths to what he delivers on this album. Lost In The Winds Of Time is more progressive rock than Thirteen Moons. *** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
