As a big fan of the music of Dutch band Silhouette, I am always curious how any related projects sound and if I recognize what I like about their music. The two composers, Erik Laan and Brian de Graeve, have both turned their attention in recent years to their respective bands, Chain Reaktor and Realisea. Where Chain Reactor has only delivered one album, the beautiful Homesick (2021), Brian is a lot more productive and Realisea is already releasing their third album entitled Scratch. I own both previous albums, Mantelpeace (2020) and Fairly Carefree (2022) and they are certainly fine but both have only partially convinced me. There are of course a number of reasons for this, but the question is ultimately, does Scratch convince me completely? There are a few changes/additions in the line-up and they appear to have a major influence on the overall sound. Of course the vocals of Brian and his wife Marjolein de Graeve have remained and Jos Uffing also sings a track and of course plays drums. Also familiar is the keyboard playing of Christophe Rapenne and fortunately guitarist Rindert Bul is also present again. New are bassist Patrick Verheij and second guitarist Jos de Jong. Here and there we also hear Tamara van Koetsveld on clarinet. There are countless choirs and background vocals on the album and that indicates that a lot of attention has been paid to the vocal part and you can hear that. I have to say that I sometimes doubt whether Brian's choice to sing extremely high is the right one because I think he is better if he stays within the limits of his range. Moreover, Marjolein also has such a high and sweet voice and together it is sometimes so cloyingly sweet that it becomes too much. On the other hand, musically it is all really much stronger than before and I also had to get over the prejudice that there are a lot of shorter tracks on the album that might not be proggy enough. There are eight tracks on the album, four of which go well over the seven minute mark and opener Living The Dream is even almost nine minutes long, so that's not too bad. Speaking of this song, this is definitely one of the best tracks Realisea has ever made. Everything is there, Brian's acoustic strumming/picking, the harmony vocals, the full keys and the wonderful guitar solos that are really heavenly. It is no secret that Brian's lyrics are often about society-related topics and this also comes up several times on Scratch, climate change, animal welfare and international tensions and the damage, scratches that occur on everything. Yet the much-sung subject of love has not been forgotten and that reflects the romantic slant of Brian and Marjolein. What I think is quite fine, the following shorter tracks contain so much variety and dynamics that they remain really interesting. Dynamics is actually the word that best describes the music on Scratch, but with a clear signature and style. Quiet acoustic passages often show that Brian's qualities as a guitarist lie mainly in that area and that he has been wise enough to let two classy guitarists fill in the heavier chords and solos. That is also a quality, self-knowledge and the courage to put selfishness aside so that the band has room to excel. Uffing's voice makes Today's Cloud a beautiful, moody track with again that fantastic guitar work, read extended solos, at the end. I already talked about the vocals and the attention that has been paid to them. I could imagine that Brian and Marjolein's voices are not everyone's cup of tea and sometimes I understand that. Where the music sometimes gets a bit heavier, rest assured, no metal, the vocals remain very light and both voices do not rely on sheer power, so it sometimes doesn't match that well. Don't get me wrong, their voices complement each other very well and you can feel the passion and I have to mention the harmony vocals because they are really beautiful but sometimes they simply lack a bit of power. Two longer tracks now follow, The Sixth Pamphlet and Never Feel This Way Again, and there is more room for instrumental subtleties where the melodies are very convincing. The tempo that occasionally increases makes that we can speak of real prog rock, especially when the double guitars sometimes duel wonderfully. These tracks also belong to the best that Realisea ever recorded. It never gets overly complex, but if you listen attentively, the nuances are certainly noticeable because compositionally Scratch is absolutely of a higher level than its predecessors. Follow Me Home is a quiet ballad sung by Marjolein and is the lesser song on the album as far as I'm concerned, it's really too sweet and the guitar solo can't change that either. We know this from previous albums and that is simply part of this band. Closing track The Great Ricochet is of a different order and closes the album as it should, full of variety, full of passion and with a beautiful finale. The beautiful cover by Antonio Seijas deserves a special mention. Where Atlas takes the world, including the Zodiac signs, on his shoulders, you can literally see the scratches and this cover is just so much tougher and stronger than the ones of the previous albums. My advice, go listen to this album and give it some time and you will discover what is hidden in this music and if you just like tight, melodic and passionate guitar solos you should definitely not skip Scratch. A real Dutch treat! **** Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
