Islands

The COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to inspire art of all stripes for years to come. Touring musicians have been forced to reckon with a situation that challenges their livelihoods and their ability to collaborate. The Flower Kings respond directly with Islands, a 90-minute, 21-song double album whose theme is isolation, loss, and the fear of disconnection. It is adorned with a floating islands cover painting from Roger Dean. After 2019s Waiting for the Miracles comeback, the band planned on touring for at least a year. The pandemic had other ideas. Undaunted, Roine Stolt assembled TFK online to write and record through the internet and in doing so, they found empathy with the plight of the global population. The record took less than a year from conception to mastering. What sets it apart from other titles in TFKs catalog is that rather than epic-length pieces on one release, they deliver an album of short-to-middling songs in a kaleidoscopic musical framework meant to be absorbed in one sitting. The lyrics in muscular overture Racing with Blinders On exhort listeners not to surrender their joy to despair. It also establishes the primacy of Jonas Reingolds bass playing; he guides and anchors the album throughout. From the Ground finds TFK consciously evoking Yes And You & I. The poignant Morning News contrasts the before-and-after-the-pandemic as ...death is opening like a rose…. Journeyman is one of several cuts that reflect Frank Zappas massive influence; others include Hidden Angles and Fool’s Gold. Solaris, titled after Andrei Tarkovskys film, is the sets most assuredly prog jam with a full choir; its about an astronauts desolate journey to the sun as his deep loneliness affects his perception of reality. All I Need Is Love peerlessly joins the human experience to creations bounty through the use of flamenco palmas, a sweet lyric hook, Stolts layered electric and acoustic guitars, Mirko DeMaios majestic drumming, Zach Kamins piano and keys, and Hasse Frobergs soaring vocals. Northern Lights is another transcendent vocal showcase for his gorgeous, Paul Buchanan-esque singing alongside Reingolds revelatory bass work. Serpentine melds hoary prog and Zappa-esque fusion with a soulful soprano sax appearance from guest Rob Townsend. It precedes the illuminating instrumental Looking for Answers that juxtaposes classical and Gregorian choirs, biting lead guitars, and sweeping keyboards. Telescopes spiraling guitars, jazzy bass, majestic drums, and insightful keys support Froberg as he laments viewing the holiness of the natural world through glass. Fools Gold is an adventurous rocker with Froberg and Stolt alternating vocals amid squalling organs and wah-wah guitars. From spiky prog to sophisticated yet quirky pop; from classical choirs to tender melodies; from poetic lyrics to intricate instrumental interplay, the Flower Kings rage against separation and silence on Islands. Its bright, warm production and inspired performances contradict the dire global circumstances surrounding its creation, rendering it all the more remarkable. ~ Thom Jurek