From Marilia in Brazil, we have Caio Claro releasing his EP, Fear: The Voice of Your Soul which, like me, you can obtain by popping over to the Bandcamp page at https://caioclaro.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-voice-of-your-soul
Claro is the founding member of Drowning Steps (https://drowningsteps.bandcamp.com/ ) and here he sings and plays acoustic guitar, whilst creating effects and arrangements. He is joined by Filipe Coelho on electric and bass guitar, drums, keyboards, mellotron, effects and arrangements.
Two pieces of music here, and I am, incidentally, playing one of them on my Progzilla Radio show Saturday 29th March.
Fear: The Voice of Your Soul it is that starts us off. Lyrically interesting in urging the subject to be connected, find him or herself, and has hope for the future, so spiritually satisfying. Claro has a nice voice, expressive, and the guitar work complements this very well. The orchestration is rich, the bass melody quite gorgeous, the vocal effects prominent, and as soon as I heard this track, I was convinced that Claro is an artist who deserves serious attention in our progressive world, creating a lovely pastoral canvas, the intensity of the song increasing as it moves to the closing passage which has some stunning guitar work present. It is embedded below for you to enjoy. I have listened to this daily since Caio reached out to me, and it continues to please the Lazland Lugs immensely.
The second part of the single is Time: Never Ending Stream. Lyrically, far more insular, it talks about the decisions and choices we make following us throughout our lives, which, for those parents reading this, is something ours told us, and we took no notice, and we tell our offspring, and they repeat the cycle. This is very different from the opener. You can hear Wilson, Radiohead, Riverside, indeed a veritable smorgasbord of modern rock artists, and it sounds precisely that, modern, and it is sweeping in its ambition. The guitar solo is beautiful, and this is an extremely strong piece of music.
As a taster for future delights, this double single works a treat. Caio Claro is, I think, a name we will become increasingly familiar with as time progresses.