Another brand-new project to report on, Phase of Twilight hail from the Lone Star state and are Mark Cook (Herd of Instinct, Liquid Sound Company, and Spoke of Shadows playing guitars, bass, keys, and percussion), Bill Bachman (Herd of Instinct, Neal Morse, Spoke of Shadows on drums) and John Galvan (previously active as a classical guitarist and playing guitar and Tarus Pedals). Cook is responsible for the knob-twiddling duties.

The collective have released their eponymous debut EP, this featuring three brand new classy pieces of music and you can take yourselves along to their Bandcamp page at https://phaseoftwilight.bandcamp.com/album/phase-of-twilight There is over twenty minutes of music on offer here, so you certainly are getting your money’s worth, and there is a nice range of moods on offer, but I will say as a marker that fans of King Crimson’s experimental music especially will find much to enjoy, so let’s get down to the detail.

We start with Moments Pass By, eight and a half minutes of music. Immediately, the quality of the musicianship hits you, the guitar creating the transient mood, the delicious bassline melody, and the jazz percussion, it is music to chill to, but with an important requirement to concentrate on the intricacies inherent within. I do like the keys Cook introduces three minutes in, and about a minute later, the track blows out in a Crimsonesque way before reverting to a more introspective manner, with some quite lovely chords created and then building up to a final noise before you quite notice it. The whole piece is one that captures moods, and I think it is marvellous.

Document follows this, weighing in at a minute less than the opener. It is embedded below. It opens with some nice ambient soundscapes, again fans of Fripp will instantly recognise here the backdrop. After a good use of a musical full stop, the track develops very nicely into a heavy jazz improvisation, with the bass melody particularly thoughtful, some complex chord playing, and a sense of the document in question being a rather weighty tome, such as a contentious legal document, a sense brought to life by the furious guitar riffing heard when, perhaps, someone hears something they did not particularly expect or like. This calms down, evidence of some nicely contrasting moods, the guitar solo here slightly distorted and very pretty before a heavier closing passage. You will certainly not get bored listening to Phase of Twilight.

The final track on the EP is Forward View, the shortest at just under five minutes. This is the pick of the three pieces to this listener. It is a fascinating brew. I hear some eastern influences, the guitar work is minimalist but extremely good, the keys provide for an interesting landscape underneath which the drums and bass play something almost entirely different, and I take some of this as a viewpoint of a human future which is not particularly peaceful or prosperous, with a world full of danger. It is also embedded below. A unique piece of music infused with colour.

So, a new EP from a new collaboration, and certainly one that I want to hear more of in future.