Travellers is the new band of keyboard player and drummer Wojtek Szadkowski who gained his reputation as a drummer in Polish bands like Collage, Satellite and Strawberry Fields. Therefore, expectations ran high for his new band with a prominent role for singer Robin. She was already a member of Strawberry Fields and it was her high-pitched voice she used on one of the tracks that inspired Szadkowski in his writing for Travellers. And it's exactly Robin's voice which will split the prog fans. Some will like it very much and for them A Journey Into The Sun Within will be a top-notch album since Robin is present on all six tracks. Others will tire of that voice quickly and will regret that the album doesn't contain more instrumental passages. On track 2, Letters To God, you can hear clearly what I mean. Robin is present with her crystal clear voice and in between there is some heavy and quite nice riffing going on. Personally I would have liked some more variety in the singing, because Robin at a certain moment starts to sound rather uniformly. Moreover several songs are a bit too smooth for my liking. The track Dreaming for instance comes and goes without the listener noticing. The next song I Dream Softly suddenly has more spirit and breaks, which is nice. So your judgment will depend on how much you're into Robin's singing and how relatively easy you digest prog pop. *** (fan) / **- (no fan) André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
