Sometimes it is nice and familiar to know what lies ahead, but sometimes it is also nice to be surprised. As far as the first is concerned, the Canadian all-rounder Rick Miller has been the right choice for years. The man who plays all instruments, except for a few classical instruments and the drums, himself and takes care of the vocals. With Temporal Illusion he releases his 18th album and as he states in the included info, if you expect heavy metal, jazz or something with A.I., you will be disappointed. He himself calls his music atmospheric prog and I can only go along with that. His voice is very laidback and that perfectly fits the music, he is a fine singer without being a vocal powerhouse and his instrumental capabilities are also fine, especially his guitar solos stand out for their sense of melody and timing. The keys mainly provide the atmosphere and the tempo is often slow. The use of some electronic rhythms provides some degree of variety but don't expect to hear something extravagant on that level. There are seven tracks on the album this time and they vary in length from five to ten minutes. The combination of acoustic guitars and the electric variant can be found in all songs, including opener Fill The Night, which is a typical Miller song and that actually applies to all songs. You could say that there is a certain Camel vibe but only the mellow side of Andy Latimer's band comes to the fore. Even the style of guitar playing is quite similar but here again Miller keeps it more on the mellow side. The quality of the compositions is very consistent, which is nice, but after half an hour of listening I have to fight against listening fatigue because it is all quite soporific. The aforementioned addition of classical instruments is beautifully done and the oboe often plays relaxed melodies that are often followed by Miller's melodic guitar playing against a background of floating keys. Just as many times as I could use the word relaxed, so rarely does the word exciting come to mind. That goes for the entire album and even by Miller's standards there are very few eruptions in the music. However, it's too good to call boring, you just have to be in the right mood for it. A quiet evening on the couch, a glass of wine and trying to unravel the lyrics because they are quite challenging. It is not always clear what exactly they are about and that means that as a listener you have to give meaning to a piece yourself. No problem because that happens much more often. If you want to throw a party though, I would choose something else otherwise there is a fair chance everyone will be in dreamland before midnight. So Temporal Illusion is a continuation in very familiar steps, but also nice to listen to. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
