Class art rock from British artist. Polarchoral is a stunning achievement
The life of a music reviewer is a blessed one. It is, above all else, a privilege to share with people the world over one’s thoughts on what is at the end of the day a personal passion. It is even better when you are contacted and sent exceptional art that widens your musical horizons.
(Martin) Grice (Peters) is a British art-rock artist who has been positively reviewed by Prog magazine amongst others and recently by my very good friend, Thomas Tszirmay, aka The Prog Rogue. Marillion fans might be interested to learn that he shared the stage with Steve Hogarth at the IB Expo in Sweden and sang on the premier performance of Naked (Not The Weapon but the Hand) with Richard Barbieri, David Torn, and Julie Slick. Barbieri himself features on Alarm Bells. Grice is a very talented multi-instrumentalist and utilises many guest musicians to enable the musical theme to be realised.
Polarchoral is his fifth solo album and is available via his Hungersleep Records Bandcamp page https://hungersleeprecords.bandcamp.com/album/polarchoral
The album’s theme is that of the bipolarity of personal relationships and ideologies, the attraction and division of people and the confusion conflict and hurt prevalent in our times (this is very much at the forefront in the mind for anyone who takes even a passing interest in current affairs, but Grice is correct when he states that such conflict can also unite us, as without division, there is no life).
So, some heady themes. Does the music live up to this? The answer is an overwhelming yes. This is an intelligent, mature, and deeply passionate album, one which remains in the mind for some time after the final notes fade out.
Involution opens proceedings and runs to over seven and a half minutes. The percussion on this track is astoundingly intricate amidst a stark cinematic landscape and the lyrics talk to me of the difficult choices and situations in a relationship breakdown. It is a very strong opening, spartan yet never anything less than fascinating.
Damage Done talks about coming to hear the children sing, the place to hide the broken wings. The voice has a fragility about it and the accompanying music is brighter until three minutes in we get a very dark guitar riff which heralds a distinct change in mood, with the lyrics repeating “give it away” and the fact that the race is run. The closing passage is dark, moody, and very effective.
Winter is the second seven minute plus track on the album. The acoustic guitar is pastoral and reflects the lyrical theme of waking up old. You are then introduced to the loveliest thoughtful trumpet which leads the main winter theme of the track featuring dreamy vocals and some passages which are at turns expansive and then introspective. When the Uilleann Pipes enter, you notice, and the track then descends nicely into a jazzy jam featuring some clever programming and chords alongside the brass. The track is embedded below – listen and enjoy.
Without Her follows. This is a track with some mean grooves and is certainly far more commercial in its impact, including the theme of not meaning a thing without her, and some of the chords remind one of smoky bars and clubs in classic movies. The rhythm section and dark guitar riffs of the closing passage take the mood and intensity up a few notches.
Saviour musically cries out hit single (and there is, indeed, a single version to close the album - the track below is the full-length version) and the vocal interaction is extremely good. It is a deeply introspective piece of music and the electric guitar bursts and the throbbing orchestration exemplify this very well. Just short of four minutes in, the threatened explosion arrives, and the riff is deep, pensive, and damned good. A sad violin and some synth orchestration provide a thoughtful close to an extremely impressive piece of music.
Alarm Bells is the first ten minute plus piece of music on the album and the track featuring Richard Barbieri on synthesis & sonic pulse. There is some more gorgeous brass, and I might add here that Big Big Train fans well used to such moments will find much to enjoy here, even if the impact is far jazzier (dig those drums again) than classic prog. The interaction between trumpet, voice, organ, and effects accompanies the theme I take as a cry for honesty in discourse between a couple despairing of each other, thematically very similar to the “won’t you please talk to me” Gabriel conversation in Us, the lyrics crying out for honesty – I take the majesty reference to be deeply sardonic. This wonderful piece of music is modern jazz at its best, dripping with emotion, feeling, sadness, and I adore it. The closing chords as they fade are a contrast to what came before and are deeply telling.
Band of Brothers is, by contrast, more urgent in its questing “what about love”, the repetitive theme which is backed by some lush female voices and compelling acoustic guitar chords which, although not remotely derivative, do remind me of the type of intensity Colin Meloy brings to much of The Decemberists music. The final couple of minutes talk of the dreams of love, almost as an allegory for those lost Sixties fantasies of a world governed by peace and love.
Legend is intoxicating and has at its core a simply gorgeous trumpet and voice. It is one of those tracks which demands that you sit back, close your eyes, sip some rich alcohol, and let it sink in. Lyrically, I believe it is a cry for peace and for an end to conflict, to step up to the plate and fight for this and directed at today’s youth, if only because my generation has simply sodded it all up and is beyond help or redemption.
The title track is the longest at over fourteen minutes long. The percussion dominates proceedings again underneath the chords above. The keyboards and guitars provide for probably the closest this album gets to classic progressive rock or psychedelia reminding one of some of Richard Wright and David Gilmour’s more urgent moments pre–Dark Side commercial success. When the vocals are introduced alongside a distorted guitar, the music transposes into a middle eastern trance, with a swirling Hammond organ and some incredible accompanying vocals from Suzanne Barbieri. Halfway through, the muted trumpet returns, and it brings with it an altogether darker hew to the piece, but still dripping with the searing heat of the desert sun. This piece is a truly eclectic art rock epic, combining world elements, with more traditional jazz, psychedelia, stoner rock, and is never anything less than utterly fascinating, and one of the finest tracks I have had the pleasure of immersing myself in during 2022. As The World Dies. Will It? Are there enough people left to care amongst the conflict and noise of modern society? The crow at the end provides, I feel, a rather disturbing answer to this question.
Lapis Lazuli, the prized stone gifted from heaven closes the main album. Jansen as mentioned above features here providing stunning sonics. It is a comedown track from what preceded it, a cathartic release, and it is quite lovely.
As I said at the top of this review, I lead a rather blessed existence. Join me and take yourself off to the Bandcamp Page or the website https://www.gricemusic.co.uk/ and listen to an album which oozes class (as ever, embedded tracks are on a “try before you buy” basis - please support our artists by buying their music). Very highly recommended.