Artist: Moonlight Sky
Release: 2004
Rating: 2.5/5
This next band is definitely no slouch. It’s a quartet of four musketeers who offer a whole lot by modest Slovenian standards. Moonlight Sky could be called classicists and, put superficially and quickly, revivalists of seventies prog rock. Mostly because of the sound itself, the use of keyboards and the specific interplay between guitar and keyboards. The guys are seriously brave for this time and place, since most people today have forgotten the basic doctrine of the seventies and the biggest names of the prog rock scene, who back then wrote themselves into rock history in bold letters forever.
Moonlight Sky string together well-crafted motifs of contrasting variety. The foursome are equals in expression. The vocals are distinctive and instantly recognizable. If we have to draw comparisons, the style is closest, in places (!), to the first singer of Prospect. The essence, the thing that actually makes it possible to use the word rock at all (unless you’re E.L.P., so yes, there are exceptions again), is the electric guitar. For the guitar to be expressive in prog rock, to add to that bold, exploratory “craziness” and witty inventiveness, a command of jazz is enough, or even often desirable. That’s where the big names come from, like Robert Fripp, Steve Howe, John McLaughlin or the lightning-fast fusionist Al Di Meola. So, we said the guys are equals, but still, Moonlight Sky win you over first and foremost with a fantastic electric guitar, which in Slovenian rock bands is way too often hesitant and therefore bland. On that front the guitarist is definitely out of the ordinary by Slovenian standards. They’re blessed with an outstanding feel for controlling the guitar tone itself, which actually sounds “English”. Thin and delicately subtle when it needs to be. At heart you could put them among those who draw on elements of blues, especially in the solos, which are incredibly masterfully set up and polished, seasoned with superb long pull-offs, outstanding “timing”, and often tastefully squeezed out through a wah effect (the track Pluton). Let me throw in David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) as a quick parallel. The guitarist carefully economizes on notes and carefully arranges them into expressively crafted solos, which doesn’t shrink their room to maneuver in developing their own expression. The tracks are glued together from several motifs, all of them polished. So, Moonlight Sky don’t fall apart across motifs, and they always keep a red thread running through the compositions. If we compare them to the movements of seventies prog rock, Moonlight Sky would be closer in their approach to composing to the bands of the Canterbury scene (Camel, Soft Machine, Colosseum…) than to some “ultra space heavyweights” like Yes, Gentle Giant or King Crimson, or (on the other side) yet another hugely influential prog rocker of those bygone days, called Genesis. Moonlight Sky know how to be poisonously dreamy and shine in full light especially in the performance of the atmospheric mini-epic instrumental gem Ocean, where a sudden atmospheric turn in the middle of the track ignites through a baroque interplay of guitar and keyboard duels, which proves that the guys are truly made of the right stuff as musicians. Moonlight Sky also flirt shamelessly with jazz rock fusion. One such track is, for instance, Pluton, where the band manages to build an outstanding mood in which the drama grows with every round.
What makes Moonlight Sky special is, of course, the ability to create outstanding moods through mostly dreamy mid-tempo rhythms, where the guitar, often with slide tricks too, finds a huge amount of room to create transcendence. And through excellent communication, witty keyboards constantly weave into it, building the esoteric effect just as equally and together, and they can calmly carry you off above the clouds. The punchy closing track How Much… is interesting because the basic guitar motif, backed by a characteristic broken progressive rhythm, brings the band closer to British neo-prog bands, and so we’re not even a stone’s throw away from the fact that bits of good old Genesis are hiding in the track too.
The musicians’ brilliant communication results in exceptional compositions, both in technical polish and in creating varied moods. Moonlight Sky are therefore a dynamic story that unfolds spontaneously and unpredictably, which is an exceptional virtue and quite a rarity today. The music is multilayered, template-free and at the same time extremely listenable and consistent. So there’s none of the fragmentation that’s typical of Yes. Moonlight Sky are progressive oddballs. They slyly call the seventies back to life, yet at the same time there’s no way to analytically squeeze them into a musical mold. They’re a completely unique figure on the rock scene, distinguished by recognizability and originality. They’re an exceptional asset for the Slovenian music scene, and even though they’re only just starting out, in many respects they already reach the level of similar bands abroad. So! It looks like we Slovenes have finally lived to see a real progressive rock band in the classic sense of the word, one that has a handle on courage and innovation. Experience the revolution! Let a fresh wind wake up your ears and clear your mind! Surrender to the magical world, a world radiated by the newborn moonlight of the blue sky, through which you can sail freely and keep on sailing.
Lineup
Andraž Kržič – vocals, keyboards
Miha Petrič – guitar
Janez Moder – bass guitar
Bor Zakonjšek – drums
Production
Moonlight Sky
Tracklist
1. Lunin Svit
2. Angel
3. Škrat Cik – Cak
4. Ocean
5. Jackin
6. Pluton
7. How Much…
Album length: 31:49
