From Finland, Lighthouse Sparrows, on the back of their Dark Matter (Alpha & Beta) releases last year (which you can read about by clicking on the buttons below), return with a brand-new single, Closure.

This epic-length thing of beauty can be obtained by going to the duo’s Bandcamp page at https://lighthousesparrows.bandcamp.com/track/closure

As might be inferred, the title brings the Dark Matter saga to a close, and, indeed, I have been delighted these past couple of weeks in listening to the three as a whole.

You know you are in for a treat from the opening delicate percussion (which becomes very intricate as the track proceeds), before the synths and guitars overlay this. The lyrics talking about having clarity by letting time pass are pretty much a perfect description of the way the vocals are shaped on this and the preceding pieces, allowing the listener to concentrate and think without overly urgent expression, quietly intense being an apt description, I think.

It sounds fantastic, and the piece builds its intensity in a very clever way, quietly, and they match, I think, the masters of doing this in modern times, Marillion – how to do thoughtful, emotional, and powerful without having to turn the volume down. The guitar, keys, percussion used as a backdrop to the voice before the track expands to allow the instruments their own space, the guitar solo especially poignant, and the main body takes the voice up a notch, bringing closure with no regrets.

The soundscapes provided by the synths are simply beautiful, and there is a ghostly quality to the mid-passage which leads into a cleverly short powerful heavier segment before the main theme reasserts itself, the voice perfectly describing how all the news sounds the same, the passage of time at the forefront of the words, with a simply beautiful guitar solo, marvellously understated taking us into the final passage, talking about the personal life choices that have been made.

The engine then comes grinding to a halt, reflecting one’s mortality, before moving on again, perhaps looking forward to what might come after.

This is another winner. I would thoroughly recommend all three in this series, and to promote this, please take a listen to a track from all three, including this pearl of music, which is shared in the hope that you will invest in the artist.

Modern progressive rock which demands serious attention.