London’s music troupe Messenger premiere the video for ‘Somniloquist’ on PopMatters.com. The track comes from the band’s forthcoming debut album, Illusory Blues, set for international release on March 31st through Svart Records.
Messenger were formed in the spring of 2012 by Khaled Lowe (guitars, vocals) and Barnaby Maddick (guitars, vocals) and are rounded off by Daniel Knight (guitars, keyboards) and James Leach (bass). Illusory Blues is the result of a session the band booked with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios. The album is described as “a cosmic ode to the forces of nature and the inevitable cycle of life.”
The musicians had made their names with bands in scenes as far apart as hardcore punk, black metal and ambient music. The music they make as Messenger they simply call prog rock, though! They add: “Tonally, one might recall finding oneself in the same ‘space’ occupied by other architects of sound such as Ulver, The Beatles, Swans, or Pink Floyd… Illusory Blues is a heaving mass of organic richness, brimmed with intricate sounds that acknowledge the original fathers of experimentation but look forward in creating something new and unique. They dwell equally in the earthly realm of folk music and in the celestial void of progressive psychedelia” Sounds like a tasty mix.
Here is what Kristoffer Rygg, more commonly known as Garm, has to say about Illusory Blues: “Totally unafraid to mix it up; the flutes of prog and Americana-style violins meet hard rocking drums and pop sensible vocal work. And although you can hear quite clearly the references and influences, it all amounts to a most novel and prodigious production. Fuckin’ well done.”
