The British-born band The Gift has existed in many guises over the past decades, but always with Mike Morton as the driving force and composer. For the band's fifth album, he has gathered a number of very talented musicians around him. Because there are constantly other people playing along, each album has its own face, but this does not ensure that the music is completely unrecognizable because Morton's vocals in particular remain a very characteristic, recognizable factor. He has a warm voice that never pushes the boundaries but very consciously follows the atmosphere of the music. So no screaming or vocal acrobatics. In addition to Morton, the line-up is as follows this time, on guitar Cristiano Tottoioli, on drums Chris Taylor, on bass Keith Buckman and on keys Eliot Minn. There are also a number of well-known guest musicians participating, of which Steve Hackett is the best known and his brother John Hackett plays the flute in another track. All that remains is Jon Poole (Lifesigns) who plays bass on two tracks and Stephen Clee who takes up the acoustic guitar in the opening track Overture. This is also the song in which we hear Steve Hackett's contribution. Of the albums that have been released so far, I am most charmed by Why The Sea Is Salt (2016, see review), which comes across as the most mature. What immediately stands out is that on Seven Seasons they have chosen for more compact tracks, there are no super long tracks that we often encountered on albums by The Gift in the past. On the penultimate album, Antenna (2019, see review), we already saw that choice. It is also a real concept album and the lyrics are based on a work by Shakespeare called Seven Ages of Man. All track titles have been supplemented and when you read them you can immediately see in which phase of life we have arrived. The already mentioned Overture is the instrumental opening of the album and shows a mix of pastoral and pure prog with of course Steve Hackett who delivers a beautiful solo. The following Coming Down To Land (Birth & Infancy) is a laidback track with a fairly low tempo but a beautiful melody. Guitar and keys are both given space and I think an explanation of the lyrics is unnecessary given the addition after the title. Just as in real life, the schooldays (Baby Blue Eyes) and the young prime (Sweet Bird Of Youth) come next and these are both somewhat short up-tempo songs that don't show too many special moments and don't stick. What would life be without love and that is the obvious subject in Lay Your Heart On Me and if you expect a sweet song with equally sweet lyrics then you get exactly that. The nice keyboard solo can't lift this track to a higher level either. Most men in particular have had to deal with a Midlife Crisis somewhere in their lives and Yours Sincerely is about this. A few solid guitar chords and a nice roaring keyboard riff promise a lot of good, but that is only partly delivered. Morton's high notes are not very convincing and the guitar solos are quite nice but no more than that. I am reminded of my own mid-life crisis in which I bought a new guitar for the umpteenth time but eventually came to the conclusion that I didn't have enough talent to continue with it. Evensong has been subtitled Autumn Years and that autumnal feeling is clearly perceptible, the melancholy flute playing of John Hackett fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the song. Accompanied only by keys and Hackett's contribution, Morton lets us experience the necessary melancholy. Everything comes to an end and so does our lives and so does this album too. As is often the case, The Gift also saves the best for last, the almost ten-minute song Love Is Where We're From (End Of Life) shows a glimpse of the band that once made those long epics. A beautiful guitar solo and wide keyboard landscapes ensure that we can complete our last phase of life with a certain peace of mind. The lyrics are quite cheesy and so are the vocals. If you compare Seven Seasons with, for example, Why The Sea Is Salt, you have to conclude that a more direct approach has been chosen and that the label "prog" may only partly fit the music. That probably won't matter to Morton and his men and it doesn't necessarily mean that the music isn't interesting. I do want to indicate that people like me, who like the older, more proggy, albums will not necessarily be impressed by the music on Seven Seasons. Certainly, a nice album but not an outlier for me. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
