It has been already six years since the Polish act Moonrise released a studio album. Not that the band wasn't active the years between Travel Within (2019, see review) and the live album/ DVD Live In Przeciszów (2024, see review). Before the pandemic came they were doing concerts. Unfortunately the whole Covid 19 thing spoiled a lot for lovers of this band. Because the concerts in the Netherlands were postponed to 2023 ('t Blok, see review) and 2025 (Parkvilla, see review). Behind the scenes band leader Kamil Konieczniak was very busy already getting new compositions together for a future album. And now finally just before the Summer of 2025 he released with Moonrise a mini album with the title Single Game. Some people also might call it an EP, because it only consists three tracks with a total time of 21 minutes. You might call it an appetiser for the new album which is planned end of this year or maybe early next year. On this new release Konieczniak played on all the instruments that you can hear. Meaning all parts played on the keyboards, guitars, bass and drums were done by himself. Moreover he wrote the music for the three tracks which got the lyrics written by former band member and lead singer Łukasz Gałęziowski (Ex-Millenium). Current lead singer Marcin Staszek had the task to sing those lyrics the best possible way. Shadows In The Dark opens this EP. It has a lot variety because it has mellow and up tempo parts in one composition. The up tempo parts reminded me of songs such as In The Labyrinth Of The Dream and Dive. Most of all because of the same kind of rhythm patterns in combination with the guitar riffs. Excellent guitar parts and a strong synthesizer solo can be enjoyed throughout the entire track. Lead singer Staszek distinguishes himself here, making wonderful vocal contributions over these beautiful musical parts. Kamil helps him out here with the choirs that you can hear. Marcin even did the spoken parts at the start of the track and later on you can hear him doing it again. Speaking some nice English words written by Gałęziowski. According to Kamil they are actually a metaphor for uncertainty and an upcoming change - something invisible but perceptible, like a shadow on the horizon or a storm. The text conveys a mood of anticipation, unease, and mystery, connected to what might happen in the future. Next up is Single Game. The title track could already be heard during the concert in Netherlands this year. It is a mellow composition with lots of atmospheric synthesizer parts. Again Marcin is featured here with some very strong vocal parts. The excellent melodic guitar solo is here the icing on the cake! The final piece of music on this EP is Two Roads. It is another mellow composition with again very strong vocal parts. Beautiful keyboard and guitar parts are featured as well. Also here the excellent melodic guitar solo is the icing on the cake! The EP and the composition ends with some beautiful flute parts from the keyboards. After that you want to put it on again and again. Because it is of course way to short. But as I already mentioned it is a nice appetizer for the new album which will contain probably one hour of music. Also worth mentioning is the visual side of this release. It was beautifully designed by Eryk Konieczniak. It is maintained in purple shades, in accordance with Kamil's personal impression. He confessed that in his music he hears the colour purple. A colour carrying multidimensional symbolism full of emotions. And that's what you can hear on all of the three compositions. Until the release of the fifth studio album I will kill the time by playing this excellent release over and over again. Without any doubt some of the earlier released studio albums and live album are coming out of my speakers as well. If you like the bands earlier work you will certainly like this limited edition in unipack. But be quick buying it because it is available in a limited number of copies. Sooner or later it might become a collector's item and you will regret it not buying this excellent release. Because that's what Single Game is all the way. Highly recommended to all Moonrise fans and lovers of neo progressive rock as well. **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
