It is always a pleasure when supremely talented people are kind enough to reach out to me to feature their work, the inherent trust in such an act, and it is not something I take lightly, especially when one considers the sheer hard work and money needed to bring a project to fruition.
So, a little while back, Peter Rand sent me a link for Imperial Measures new album, The Promise of Morning, released on New Year’s Day, which you can depart with your hard earned pennies/cents/ducats at https://imperialmeasures.bandcamp.com/album/the-promise-of-morning It is their sophomore album, a year to the day since the debut, Words to the Wise was released.
The band are Stefanie Kisamore on vocals; Kevin Hartnell on drums / keys / guitar / bass / and engineering; and Rand who wrote the music and lyrics and plays keys & guitar. I played the gorgeous track, All I Need, on my Progzilla Radio show 18th January (you can get the podcast by going to https://progzilla.com/lazland-on-progzilla-radio-episode-15/ and the track went down a storm amongst the listeners who joined me in the Progzilla Chat Room).
So, thirteen tracks from this English band to unpack. Let’s get down to it.
Persona opens proceedings, a pacy start for sure, hiding from pain, anger, fear in another place. There is a distinct New Wave sensibility at play here, combined with some complex chord and drum work and I like it a great deal. It is embedded below.
Tuesday’s Children lyrically is bleak and dealing with a tragic situation of separation. The entire piece revolves around a stunning vocal performance by Kisamore and has a great short guitar burst from Rand.
All I Need has a mellotron to open, and the atmospheric instrument is utilised to full impact here. As it develops, it becomes a fine progressive pop song, the keys especially providing for a sound bath of the type Genesis were very good at providing, bells ringing against a cinematic soundscape. This is deserving of wider commercial attention in my opinion.
Playing With Fire is a song dealing with internal blame for mistakes never made. This is a deeply catchy number, which is embedded below. It sounds utterly sumptuous, the production top notch, especially the guitar bursts.
Waiting Game is precisely the sort of social commentary song this website loves, railing against empty words, promises, and the tragic implications for ordinary people. All words, no action, the flames progressively fiercer, citizens in the richest countries in the world effectively providing a safe haven for kleptocrats. The vocal performance is suitably full of emotion, the drums pound throughout, and this will appeal strongly to fans of Rush’s later, short form, output.
Falling follows. It is the longest track here at a whisker short of six minutes, so there are no lengthy epics on an album of condensed delights, and that is fine. Content decides quality, not length. This is a relationship end song, and not a pleasant one at that. The bassline is prominent on this alongside some exceptional moody, blues-driven guitar work. I think this is a class track, and it is embedded below for you, a real highlight of this short year thus far, the vocals evocative and accusatory.
Ash is instantly intriguing, notes full of eastern flavour, dreamy, washing over you, the vocals ethereal, and, it must be said, quite lovely. To these ears, this is amongst the finest of modern art rock, quite unique and ultimately positive in its cry that life is redeeming, saving one from the night terrors.
Neverland bears no relation to the Pan story, instead a bitter polemic on a broken relationship, the joys promised never materialising, residing in said Neverland forever. The immediate impact is that of a thoroughly modern pop rock track heavily influenced by The Decemberists and the sharper end of the Nashville spectrum, the slide guitar prominent, the vocals crying to you, and the more traditional guitar solo when it arrives a blinder. A very early contender for consideration as this website’s track of the year, quite superb, alive with emotion and innovation.
Medusa. The goddess who was so hideous that just one sight of her would turn a mortal into eternal stone. In the context of this song, it is a lover with a crown of stone ripping you asunder, and the vocal is from the male perspective in a track which is deliberately laid back, and is all the more effective for it, the sound rather creeping up on you in the background, the guitar solo when it comes is a short burst of dexterity before the whole piece opens up with a wall of sound in the closing seconds before fading.
Running Scared is next, a song of physical separation in the digital ether, some flute piercing its way through a punchy musical narrative, it all reflecting quite brilliantly the freneticism of modern social media “interaction”. Very good modern social commentary placed in a jacket classic rock aficionados will deeply appreciate.
Wages for Cages is a wonderful title, but I think that there is a loneliness inherent in the lyrics here, debts paid, but wages for metaphorical cages surrounding the mental self. This is a very strong piece, the pulsing of the harpsichord and throbbing drums underpinning a mystical and sensuous vocal which reminds me of some of P J Harvey’s work, and bears comparison to it. The intensity increases as the song progresses, the keyboard work so clear and vital, but, again, all revolving around that voice of Kisamore, who is a real find for this reviewer. This is embedded below for you.
Resurrection is the penultimate track and strikes me as being quite cathartic in a single ray of light emerging from the emotional turmoil which preceded. Bright with the acoustic guitar and drums pushing matters along nicely, the harmonies working with each other, in another track which has a distinct smattering of Americana at its core.
We close with the title track. She has left in the evening, yet in her remains the promise of morning, distant but nearby. The guitar solos are magnificent on this, the intensity of the final repeated words leaving their mark.
That is not quite all – there is a bonus name your price digital track, Tinsel Town, which you can see at https://imperialmeasures.bandcamp.com/track/tinsel-town-2024 It is the most lovely Christmas song dedicated to those for whom the season is anything but festive, the homeless, hungry, and dispossessed. It is very touching. Most of us forget such people, and our common humanity is thrown away in the greed of the season. It is to this band’s credit that they haven’t.
The Promise of Morning is a very good album, well performed, excellently produced, and I am looking forward to future delights from them.