Kindred Spirit Band are rooted in folk, but their recent activities have resulted in them being fully embraced by the Prog fraternity - and this extraordinarily immersive, poignant album will certainly win them many new fans. It's a double concept album comprising 14 tracks which was inspired by a loved one experiencing issues with their mental health. Elaine Samuels, the band's founder, composer, vocalist and guitarist thoroughly researched the subject to enable The Journey Within to be an accurate, musical depiction of how the mind reacts to escape inner persecution, seeking healing and redemption. It begins with the plaintive flute of Stevie Mitchell. Samuel's searching voice and a recurring lilting fairground instrumental motif on House Of Mirrors. A distinct feeling of falling at the end of The Shadows, depicts entering a portal into a dream world where some familiar names make guest appearances along the way. The first is Chris McMahon (Haze) but here, appears on keyboards, vocals and mandolin as Treebeard on Into The Woods, a wonderfully uplifting song accompanied by Mitchell's flute and underpinned by Paul Austin's drums. On Lost, it's the turn of Spriggan Mist's vocalist Fay Brotherhood, bassist/vocalist Baz Cilia and Maxine Cilia on vocals and recorder to join in this evocative song about the mischievous Spriggan faery who leads people astray by shrouding them in mist. Keith Buckman's resonant bass sets the tone for the moody, desolate Rise Again then Gryphon's Brian Gulland joins them on The Pass with his stately bassoon and recorders. Find My Way is another pivotal track, this time Mitchell appearing on cello that blends beautifully with Piers Hogg's electric guitar. Finally, at The Lake, Stuckfish's Phil Stuckey's silver-edged vocals and guitarist Adrian Fisher's cultured flourishes beautifully depict the story's stuckfish character, the keeper of the portal key who can set the voyager free. Ethereal musical waves bring the story to a close in The Way Home that feature's Mitchell's gloriously sublime flute rising above a distinctly Eastern vibe before Samuels' positive, healing words brings it to a triumphant conclusion Co-produced by Austin and Buckman, this journey of imagination and salvation delights and inspires in equal measures. **** Alison Reijman Where to buy? |
