Dave Hilborne and his band, Nova Cascade, were an important part of the modern progressive rock scene and had grown a following with their brand of ambient and melodic music. The band was formed in 2017 when the founding members met by chance in a gaming chat room, spending the next eighteen months writing and recording before the debut album, Above All Else was released in September 2018.

Five albums have been released under the moniker, and 2025’s Box Man was, certainly for Dave, the culmination, the ultimate expression of his cherished project, featuring a staggeringly ambitious The Choice, over 28 minutes of music which never once loses the listener’s concentration or appreciation.

It has been my privilege as a reviewer and broadcaster to be able to interview Dave and his colleagues on a couple of occasions, and I grew deeply appreciative of not only his music, but also his decency, because my YT interview with him was in my early days of experimenting with that media format. He was very patient and very kind with the mistakes I made. Further, the last couple of albums had all profits earned donated immediately to Pancreatic Cancer UK, in memory of their former bandmate, Eric Bouillette.

It was, then, with an extremely heavy heart that I learned via his sister, Louise, that Dave passed away suddenly on 23rd May.

The grieving process is a long, difficult, and traumatic one. Many will say, from their own experiences, that concentrating on the positives in a loved one’s life, the fun, laughter, passion, children & etc. are what carries one through, and, of course, for those of us with faith, the prospect of a better eternal future.

Louise has taken this process further, bravely, and with all the passion her beloved brother showed when recording and promoting his music. She has taken it upon herself to act as the Nova Cascade curator, but, as a first act, of an 18-track album, Echoes from an Empty Chair, music composed and set down by Dave from the late 1980’s. I don’t know, but it would be nice to think that Dave himself, when planning his next musical moves, might have revisited some of these.

All proceeds from this album also go to the cancer charity, but that is not the primary reason you should part with your hard earned cash at https://novacascade.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-from-an-empty-chair The main reason is that this work, very well mastered by James Perrett of JRP Music Services, is very good, and it is fascinating to hear the development of Dave as a songwriter and musician, and, for those of you like me who deeply appreciated Nova Cascade, you can definitely hear some of this earlier music as laying down a marker for the band output to follow.

I hear varying influences here. Pendragon, VDGG/Peter Hammill, Floyd, amongst others. Dave’s voice pre-covid is, I think, on a stronger foundation.

The opening track, Invictus, has been released in advance of the album, and I played it on my radio show recently, and, indeed, this coming Saturday, I will also be playing Finely Tuned Guitar.

Let’s proceed with a nice pen picture of what you can expect on this album. First up, an introductory video for you.

Invictus is embedded below, and you will immediately be struck by the female voice reading, to the backdrop of Dave’s soundscapes, the poem by William Ernest Henley written in 1875. Dave’s voice when it enters the fray is instantly recognisable, a large range within it, this and the instrumentation very much influenced by Hammill, quite dystopian in parts, the pace picking up nicely as well as it progresses to something fans of Nick Barrett’s work would recognise and appreciate. Ambitious, this is a great start to the album, one of my tracks of the year, for sure.

Hilborne had a very good ear for melody and creating moods. Desperate Veil exemplifies this well, the vocal descriptive and emotional, a fine bassline as well. Finely Tuned Guitar, as noted above, is being played on my radio show this Saturday, 16th August starting at 16:00 UK time, a fragile and beautiful piece of music, so make sure you catch that either live, or on the podcast uploaded immediately after the end of the show.

Contrasts. The militaristic drumbeat of False Faces against the pretty female voice and Dave’s strong lead vocal against the light synth above before a melodic joy unfolds combining all these elements, so right from the get-go, some progressive ambition within his music. A Daltrey sort of rage on Mental Space and then a grandiose statement on Carpe Diem, synths rising to seize the day, guitars reminding one of the moods created by both Phillips & Hackett with Genesis, interspersed with interesting experimental brass effects and playful funk. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dave had played, I Bleed to Eric back in the day, with its violin and eastern European folk infused in a mournful melody. Wrapped in Silver is a strongly related track, doused in pastoral goodness, the final minute worth the entrance price alone.

I think there are several personal moments lyrically. I know not what happened on 23rd June 1991, but the theme on Darkest Days is one of betrayal, Dave’s vocal understatedly telling a story, the mix, though, quite powerful in raising the harmonies to the top of the aural experience, the close powerful. Dissolve has some orchestral & baroque moments with a tale of youthful wedding dresses and growing old, living in shadows, a very thoughtful song. Threshold talks of pulling back from a suicidal brink and sounds like Dave is talking about someone he knows intimately, the whole track a story, the female voice particularly evocative. Some Birds Are Never Caged (what a title) has Dave at his most powerfully emotional, the piano and keys providing the backdrop to what strikes me as a tribute to the strength of someone known well to him, and a quality musician’s ability to express deeper emotion simply by the flick of a piano switch, briefly, but powerfully. Halo talks about the contrasting emotions in love, life, and has a Hogarth-era Marillion quality to it, quieter, yes, but the type of synthscape Kelly would be very pleased with.

Vital Signs is a good example of what Prog Archives would deem “neo-prog”, Dave’s voice again uncannily like a young Nick Barrett, the keys experimenting with sounds and textures, strong rhythm underpinning it all, and quite catchy, you can imagine a full band performance leading to something with a chance of chart success, and A Year for a Day has more of that lush bass work, a pretty and delicate piece of music. I think Nostalgia will have been written in the same period, the harmonies on this extremely pleasing, the bass underpinning the track, the understated synths providing the dreamy mood. Closer, The Last Wave is a paeon to Hammill’s world to these ears, a private world of sound, the harpsichord creating a special movement.

There are what most prog fans would call “poppy” moments herein, and that is not automatically a bad thing on this website. I like my music to be creative and thoughtful, and many a decent pop song falls within that category. Perfect World comes close to a pop record reflecting the commercial post new romantic music extant in this period.

Duality of emotions beset this writer on this album. Appreciation and respect for the talent which created it. Sadness that our world will not hear it again, at least until we depart this mortal coil and enter a happier and musically rich place.

I am extremely grateful to Louise for sharing this special work. The CD is ordered, and when it arrives in the Lazland household, it will have a prominent place. Very special, very good, and very much worth your while obtaining.