Some of our readers might know British multi-instrumentalist Dave Allen for his work with Riffstone. With this musical project he released in 2025, together with Colin Powell the excellent albums Richard III (see review) and Sanctuary Sky (see review). But he already had an earlier musical project of his own under the moniker of Spirergy. Releasing the excellent albums Aeon (2023) and Journey Beyond (2024). And now at the start of 2026 he comes with the release titled Wherever Forever. Before we go into the new album, first some facts to get to to know the musician a little better. Dave is based in Hoylake, Wirral. Originally from Swansea, South Wales, where at the age of eleven he was taught to play Spanish classical guitar which gave him an important understanding and key skills in playing the instrument. This then progressed to electric guitar where he later played in several bands with a focus predominantly on soft rock music, mainly cover material. He played lead guitar, 12 string guitar and bass as well as lead singing and backing harmony vocals in the various groups. However, his main interest was always on writing and creating original songs in longer form pieces reflecting an early seventies progressive rock style. Dave has a love for melodic, symphonic progressive rock music based on other-worldly, imaginative and creative ideas. Immersive, atmospheric music inspired by Sci-Fi, mythology, human emotion and significantly influenced by ELP, Genesis and Yes. Most of the original concept material and structure of his songs are written on a 12-string guitar, which features heavily throughout the works. Dave wants the music to tell its own story rather than relying solely on the lyrics. This allows for the lyrics to be more abstract and complimentary to the music. As mentioned before Wherever Forever is the new eight-track album. On this you can hear progressive, symphonic and melodic rock music which moves between ethereal soundscapes and powerful melodies. They are infused with driving bass and drums, soaring lead guitar and keyboards, with atmospheric vocals and layered harmonies, the album explores themes such as human conflict, innocence, hope, cosmic journeys, and the human condition, all wrapped in dynamic production and contemporary progressive textures. To give an impression how each song sounds I will give some detailed information about each of them. But most of important of all is Allen played everything himself. Meaning you can hear him playing on the guitars, bass, keyboards and did the programming and all of the vocals. Innocent Hearts is the more commercial sounding opening tune which stays inside your head for a very long time. Easy to sing-a-long with but still a excellent track! Sometimes sounding like Yes during 90125. When They Came is the first real progressive rock tune with strong guitar parts and high pitch vocals reminding me of Jon Anderson and the band Yes. But also the guitar and bass parts move into that direction. It's a great song with different musical moods. Sometimes up tempo sometimes rather mellow. Carry Me Home is a composition with musical elements of Mike Oldfield (Moonlight Shadow) and Yes. It starts again more commercial sounding but still rather good. Later on more towards a real progressive rock sound in the more mellow parts. With beautiful parts played on the guitar, bass and piano. Even jazzy piano parts are included half way before the song returns to the commercial sounding ending of the song. See It In Your Eyes is a strong instrumental piece of music with strong guitar, synthesizer and piano parts Falling From The Sky is a great up tempo piece of music with Anderson kind of vocals. With again great guitar parts. It's Here Again is again a more commercial sounding up tempo tune with nice synthesizer parts. However the excellent guitar solo brings enough progressive influences to the surface! In The Small House starts more mellow but moves later on in higher gear with a great synthesizer solo and excellent guitar parts. Sounds a bit like Genesis from the eighties. But also Yes comes to the surface towards the end of the track. Wherever Forever closes the album. The title track is the longest piece of music on the album. Sixteen minutes of strong progressive rock music containing different moods and time signatures. Going from Yes to Genesis. For those of you out there who haven't heard anything yet from Spirergy, this is your chance to discover this previously unknown act. Start with the new album Wherever Forever and then retrospectively listen to the two previous albums Aeon and Journey Beyond. You won't regret it, because the music on these albums is of a very high standard and incredibly beautiful. That's why I'm saying that unknown acts like Spirergy and Riffstone deserve a chance to be heard too. Therefore, I recommend everyone visit their Bandcamp pages, enjoy their music, and order their albums. You won't regret it, I can say without a doubt. Especially recommended for fans of Yes and Genesis. **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
