Elegant Simplicity - Don't Look Down (At the End of the World) (2023) [Hi-Res]

Practically a one-man band, ELEGANT SIMPLICITY is headed by composer, arranger, programmer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Steve McCabe. Their material is highly keyboard- and guitar-oriented melodic prog that will alternately remind you of CAMEL, GENESIS, The ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST, The BEATLES and Mike OLDFIELD. Between 1992 and 1995, McCabe released 7 instrumental cassettes and then hired vocalist Ken Senior (from neo-prog band EVOLUTION), along with a few guest musicians who appeared on subsequent albums. Since 1996, the 'band' has released practically one album a year.

No one cassette from the first era particularly stands out (although "Inside the Hurting" and "Endless Longing" feature no guitar whatsoever). The band's better vocal cd's are "Architect of Light" and "The Nature of Change" - the latter is mostly made up of straightforward 80's neo-prog tunes but also includes an interesting 43-minute instrumental suite. As for purely instrumental albums, the recommended ones are "Purity and Despair", which blends folk themes with jazz and some classical bits, and "Anhedonia" featuring Streven McCabe as sole instrumentalist once again. The band clearly favours soft ballads although doesn't shun a much more aggressive approach on the epic tracks. The flaws: some numb programming (drums) occasionally spoils the ambience and the melodies, a little too lengthy at times, aren't always captivating.

Recommended if you like simple, smooth melodic prog like CAMEL, BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST and ODYSSICE.