Rob Harrison is an extraordinarily talented musician hailing from Swansea, so not too far from Lazland HQ.
He has won acclaim with his sax work with instrumental band, Z Machine, and astute visitors to this website might remember his name from his remarkable contribution to Enigmatic Sound Machines and their album, In Perfect Silence. Thomas & Jeremie choose their collaborators with great care.
Rob’s new album is Overflow, and it is drawing on a rich vein of eclectic progressive music, from Gong to The Crims, via Tull & Ivor Cutler! You can get it by going to his Bandcamp page at https://robharrisonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/overflow
Rob provides vocals and plays guitars, bass, saxophones, flutes, recorders, synths, SFX, the blowing of the bottles and the slapping of the waters (love it!) – he is joined by Eliseo Salverri on drums; Julia from Who Knows Sound on violin - Pools of Glass; Rhodri Davies plays harp on Tributaries; Giordano Maselli gives us glockenspiel on Tributaries, and is joined on that piece by Oso G on xylophone.
First up, let’s look at the trailer video, embedded below.
The opener is Tributaries, not far off the epic length, and it opens with a gorgeous flute solo, this enough to set the pulses of any true prog rock fan racing, of course. Harrison’s talents extend, though, to the frets. The bass melody on here is impressive against the sax lead, and I like the percussive work from Salverri. Nobody who is a native of Wales can help but adore a harp played well, and here it keeps the time beneath a somewhat frantic spoken vocal, and as we enter the heart of the mid-section, the experimental improvisation takes control, some very complex guitar work at its heart, and it is nicely heavy here before a deeper avant passage with sax and glockenspiel, so chops being shown with some passion. “Scream as one. Cut them down with eloquent noise”, indeed. A very impressive start to proceedings.
Mariposa Falls follows, and lyrically is very interesting, a personal commentary I believe of being lost in the noise of life, feeling as if nothing is going your way, and consequently struggling in the sea after splashing around for certainty and meaning. It is a dramatic track, some pulsing riffs introducing us to the struggle, with the vocals manic in their intensity, a disturbing commentary on severe mental pressure. It is embedded at the foot of this review, and it is not the type of track you will hear on an easy listening BBC Radio Wales afternoon show, but you will be impressed by the chaotic interaction between sax and guitar, the bass and drums below so intense.
Bioluminescence follows, that light emitted by glow worms and the solitary, scary actually, denizens of the deep, and, in fact, the opening sounds reflect that hostile environment, before the energy picks up, perhaps the sax and guitars representing an exploration in one of those deep-sea machines, the wonder and strangeness of the creatures wrought large in a piece which goes from heavy to funky to nicely symphonic with some ease, the sax especially dancing around with squeals of delight at the sights discovered, and compared by Thomas Szirmay in his review to early Crimson, and there is merit in his words.
Upstream is a word currently very much in vogue in UK government circles. Here I take it to be associated with swimming against the tide, and there is some wonderful interaction between guitar, bass, and drum before Harrison cleverly introduces the sax to bring to us that sense of intensity when struggling upwards to attain our goal, and this is followed by a delicious guitar solo, with the sense of relief powerful as the goal becomes ever closer, the feat attained.
The opposite of this is Downstream, of course, so I take this as the easier leg of the journey, this time swimming with the tide, and this is a playful piece, no longer straining, but allowing the water to take us with it, the sax smooth, the rhythm section kind, the guitar solo exultant, the combined march triumphant. A seriously good piece of jazz rock embedded below for you which is a serious contender for my “instrumental of 2026” award at year-end - it makes me smile each time I hear it.
Pools of Glass is a celebration of marine biodiversity, fronds, tentacles, barnacles wrapping themselves around you. This is nothing less than a glowing tribute to classic Canterbury tales of yore, and is deliciously playful, ever so slightly bonkers, happy, welcoming life and its attendant riches with open arms, that life personified by a lovely, deep, flute and alto sax circling the subject. I adore this piece of music, and have been playing it at regular intervals when fed up to the back teeth with work and is worth the price of admission alone.
Azure Veins, the river winding down the dry and dusty plains in a more laid back piece of music, the sax and guitar meandering, the subject considering the vastness of the panorama he sees below him from a height, a great bass riff underpinning the piece, some wonderful work on drums from Salverri, and the intensity builds up very nicely into a flowing heavy procession.
We close with Delerium, where safety is very much in doubt, faces staring silently at your descent, the need for their help in guiding you to calmer waters palpable, but not forthcoming in the mental struggle at play here, the stormy and choppy waters a metaphor for a desperate internal fight. I like hearing a recorder played as well as the opening passage of this track, and the initial calm is further exemplified by the blowing of the bottles, the lyrics initially anticipating the battle ahead, confusion played by the dancing, parping sax, the musician using quieter segments to great impact. As might be expected, the noise gets louder as the battle with self is joined, the sax no longer kind, but brittle, the voice emotional, the riffs harsher, before peace is conveyed with a dreamy, psych, choral close, the sax taking us to calmer waters, a wonderful way to close an impressive album.
Overflow is exceptional, and comes highly recommended to you.