Release Date: 25th
March 2014
Label: Cherry
Red Records
Curved Air at present is a 6 piece band comprising Sonja
Kristina Linwood (vocals), Florian Pilkington-Miksa (drums), Kirby Gregory
(guitars), Chris Harris (bass), Robert Norton (keyboards) and Paul Sax
(violin). Sonja and Florian were original members back in 1970, Chris joined in
2008, Robert and Paul in 2009 and Kirby, who was briefly a member in 72/73,
joined again in 2012.
North
Star
is a 14 track album which has a total running time of around 75 minutes. The
penultimate track, “Young Mother” is the longest on the album, running on to
6:45 minutes, with the opening track, “Stay Human” the shortest at 3:50
minutes. The album comprises 7 new tracks, 3 from earlier Curved Air albums (1
from Air Conditioning in 1970 and 2
from Second Album from 1971), 1 track
from a 1980 solo release by Sonja and 3 cover versions of songs by The Police,
Snow Patrol and The Beatles.
The opening track on North
Star, “Stay Human” (3:50) is an excellent introduction to the album. Chunky
guitar, drums and electric violin followed by the characteristic voice of Sonja
Kristina, make the track sound like vintage 70’s Curved Air. The track motors
along perfectly dovetailing the old and new style of Curved Air and crams much
more into under 4 minutes than would seem possible.
“Time Games” (6:24) is highlighted by a solid rhythm
unit, great guitar and that soaring violin. Sonja’s voice floats above the
music and there is an excellent section of interplay involving the guitar and
violin. “Puppets” (5:20) follows and dates back to 1971, but due to the skill
of the musicians involved, it doesn’t have the feel of an old song. Track 4,
“Images and Signs” (4:39) is more of a slow burner with the guitar and violin
again to the fore. “Interplay” (5:41) has a standout guitar section courtesy of
Kirby Gregory which is superb and also has stunning violin and piano work.
The next track is an instrumental, “Spider” (4:39) which
“reeks” of 70’s style allowing bass, guitar, violin and
keyboards to dovetail superbly. “Magnetism” (6:32) is another differently
styled track with a fairly standard drum/bass foundation, but with a more
“whispered” double tracked vocal, leading into a short violin passage which
then repeats. The time change around 2:45 minutes pits the keyboards against
the violin, with the keyboard passages superb and again the opportunity arises
for Kirby to show his mastery of the guitar in a longish passage.
“Colder than a Rose in Snow” (4:26) is a melancholic,
emotive song from a Sonja Kristina solo album, followed by “Old Time News”
(5:08) which is an up-tempo track featuring those chunky guitar passages and
stunning violin sections. “Situations” (6:14) and “Young Mother” (6:45) are
re-workings from earlier Curved Air albums, but both straddle the decades with
ease. None of the “old” material on the album sounds dated and fits in
seamlessly with the “new” tracks.
The only thing about this album I am unsure of is the
need to have the three cover versions included. “Spirits in the Material World”
(4:58), “Chasing Cars” (4:54) and “Across the Universe” (4:20) are all very competently
performed, but I don’t feel that they add anything to the album. They are
presented in a very different style to the rest of the album.
North
Star
is a superb new album from Curved Air with the new material and the selected
oldies highlighting the classic Curved Air sound, a sound that has been missing
for too long a time. North Star is
certainly a hugely satisfying listen, with little hooks throughout, meaning
that you latch onto tracks, even on only one hearing. Both stickers are
adorning this release, “One to Buy” and “The Experience will last forever” and
my advice is simply to go out and purchase it, swiftly.
5/5 Stars
Key
Tracks: Stay Human, Puppets, Images and
Signs
July 20, 2014
Review
Provided By Prog Rock Music Talk
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