There are times when you are sent such special music, that you simply drop all you are doing on first listen, sit down, start over again, but this time with your senses fully attuned to the wonder being played out of your speakers.

A Call For Fantasy is one such album, released on Bandcamp in early July at https://mackyar.bandcamp.com/album/a-call-for-fantasy

The album is the brainchild of Mahesh Arora, a multi-instrumentalist from Kolkata in India releasing music as Macky Ar, proving once again that this wonderful music we listen to and cherish is a worldwide phenomenon.

As my good friend Prog Rogue mentioned in his knowing review, Mahesh is only in his early twenties. Quite frankly, such talent as you encounter in this album at this tender age is frightening. What will this young man produce when he has his feet under the table? It boggles the mind.

I was so pleased to play the title track on my radio show of 19th July (available as a podcast at Progzilla.com), the reaction to it from my listeners incredibly positive. I am glad to report that the remaining five tracks do not disappoint, either.

Let’s discuss and play some music from a very special work.

As my regular listeners know well, I dislike categorising music, so when I state that this is the definition of art rock, you will know what I mean. Intelligent music which draws from a range of influences, strongly melodic, ambient, symphonic, the product of a questing, spiritual, musically intelligent mind.

The title track has a short intro talking about a sacrifice not being in vain, the expressive vocals accompanied by a deep piano solo, the drums then marching into a sequence reminiscent of Beatles late period.

The title track proper takes over. It is dripping with spirituality, mystical rivers, the subject holding together both the jolly world and the dark winter, searching for a saviour in a planet dripping with pain. The track, embedded below, is epic length and oozing with ambition. There are great vocal bursts, full of range, classic rock infused guitar solos, deeply pastoral symphonic rock, the ability (not universally accomplished) to turn off the taps and allow the piece and listener to breathe, but then, again suddenly, to evoke the sense of a smoky jazz club in Kolkata, the infusion of daring culture, improvisation the name of the game with some spartan notes Crimson would be proud of, all tempered with a strongly modern art rock sensibility, the intensity building up, but never with an extreme noise, with emotion pulling you into Arora’s universe, the conclusion reminding me of Cosmograf’s finest moments, and that is about as deep a compliment as I am able to give. An extremely impressive start to proceedings.

Sages & Harmony is a short track to follow. This is a lovely melodic piece, choral mellotron in the background, gentle notes to the fore, and I like the description of The Prog Rogue in his review, “keeping the mood pleasantly in the garden”. Quite.

Flowers for All is up next, a Friday morning, fresh, red, and alive, a song which, although short at sub-four-minute, puts across nicely the joy of life, the experience of basking in the power of nature, the voice and piano/synth combination fresh. It is embedded below.

The penultimate track is Polyphonic Walls, which, lyrically and musically, takes a darker hue, with death and the stench of rotting flesh marking us, an urgency to much of the music, ghostly guitar, sparing use of notes both played and thumped, multiple voices and noises assailing the subconsciousness. There is then that rare creature – a pause utilised to magnificent effect, before the track resumes in a bath of pastoral beauty, washing all over you, the nightmare over, the joy of life taking precedence again.

We close with Silk (Extended Version). A hopeful song, heart never lying, keeping desires alive, full of dreams for a brighter future, the voices and music suitably atmospheric, the guitar work invoking the spirit of the fascinating land the artist is from, the final passage a jazzy coda to all that preceded it.

We have a lovely slogan at Progzilla Radio – “prog isn’t just for dinosaurs”. Well, it isn’t, and rich talent such as this proves it, a youthful musician pushing the boundaries, his album a tasteful nod to classic days gone by but infused throughout with a fresh and vital core.

Macky Ar is the type of artist this website was founded to promote. If he continues in this vein, I foretell great things. As it is, A Call For Fantasy is highly recommended for you to turn around in ten years’ time, and comment on a superstar that “I was there from the beginning”. Greatness awaits.