Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Sound Of Contact
Label: Inside Out Records
Release: 2013
Length: 73:41
Rating: 4.5/5
Sound Of Contact is a new progressive rock band led by Canadian-British drummer/singer Simon Collins. Simon is the son of Genesis’ legendary drummer/singer Phil Collins and Phil’s first wife, Canadian Andrea Bertorelli. From his dad he inherited the high forehead, the thinning hair and the short, slightly stocky frame, and, luckily, a similar vocal timbre too, which let him launch his own music career in a convincing way. Even in early childhood his famous father was the best drum mentor you could ask for, actively teaching him drumming techniques between Genesis tours, so young Simon started honing his musical talent early.
He picked up plenty of drumming chops from Genesis touring drummer Chester Thompson (ex-Frank Zappa, Weather Report, Santana) too. Even though his dad, Chester and his other teachers gave him a distinctly jazzy drumming technique, after learning piano and singing as well he took his first musical steps in obscure hard rock bands. That soon started to bore him, so he wanted to try his hand at other genres. As a solo artist he first drifted off into electronica, then briefly into pop-rock waters, until he decided that prog rock was where he fit best.
Thanks to his dad, he knew the Genesis discography like the back of his hand (in 2007 he recorded a cover of the Genesis standard »Keep It Dark« from the album »Abacab«, 1981). After he met keyboardist and producer Dave Kerzner, the idea of a joint band was born, and that’s how Sound Of Contact came to be. As their excellent debut »Dimensionaut« shows, their musical vocabulary draws in many ways on prog rock titans like Genesis, Pink Floyd and Yes, and the more ‘modern’ Porcupine Tree influences are more than obvious on this album too. That’s honestly no big surprise, since Simon has had the best possible music teachers since childhood.
»Dimensionaut« is a concept album telling the story of an unnamed man who, thoroughly fed up with humanity’s delusions, accepts his new role as a traveler across dimensions, time and galaxies, made possible by the appearance of a mysterious flying ‘cosmic ladder’. With its help he becomes a ‘dimensionaut’ and travels through time and space. On these journeys he discovers his ‘other half’, which tears him up inside. He soon realizes that his love can’t join his endless travels and has to stay behind in the physical world. The ending is left open and up to each listener’s own interpretation: did the traveler return to his chosen one and ‘settle down’, or did he move on to endless journeys through unknown galaxies? Fans of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and of the popular BBC series Doctor Who will surely find plenty of the familiar in this concept.
The journey is kicked off convincingly by the short title track, where Sound Of Contact successfully blend some of the best ambient elements of Porcupine Tree, Yes and Genesis into an invitation to an intergalactic flight. On »Cosmic Distant Ladder« Collins junior shows clearly that his drumming style, shaped by his father’s mentoring and a strong jazz foundation, works just as well on harder-hitting material. This time Sound Of Contact don’t shy away from a few prog metal touches either, and there are hints of funk too among the complex time changes and unpredictable rhythmic mischief that lead the listener toward the ‘distant cosmic ladder’. On »Pale Blue Dot« the band builds up symphonic curtains, joined by spirited guitar passages and brilliant rhythmic nuances, and delivers an outstanding feel for ambient subtlety. Simon keeps impressing with his vocal approach, and his timbre often recalls his famous father in his best vocal years.
That’s even more obvious on the slow, balladic opening of »I Am Dimensionaut«, which soon takes the listener through distinctly complex yet melodic motifs, so the tense ambient journey doesn’t lose intensity for a second. »Not Coming Down« is another supremely smartly arranged piece with a pure pop-rock chorus, which means Simon has soaked up the best of every Genesis era and of his father’s solo career into his songwriting and arranging style. Despite the commercially appealing chorus, the track still has a complex art rock character, with plenty of unexpected time changes, grand symphonic textures and interesting improvisations. On the thoroughly romantic »Remote View« too, Sound Of Contact successfully keep their signature sound and enrich their mighty rhythmic stretches with brilliant vocal harmonies.
On »Beyond Illumination« the rich and varied stylistic influences come to the fore even more, while the epic chorus underlines the ethereally tinted ambient balance. The guest female vocals of American singer Hannah Stobart blend wonderfully with Simon’s and, amid waves of Mellotron, deliver one of the strongest moments of the entire »Dimensionaut. By the way, Stobart is known to prog rock fans mainly for working with Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery on their joint project The Wishing Tree, and as the wife of Enchant drummer Paul Craddick. »Only Breathing Out« also offers an exceptionally varied succession of melodic arrangements and a gorgeous chorus, with generous rhythmic dynamics present throughout.
»Realm Of In-Organic Beings« is a short ambient instrumental with colorful symphonic embellishments and moving female vocalizations in the background. On »Closer To You« Simon’s singing, especially during the rousing chorus, once again strikingly recalls his father in tone, partly thanks to the symphonic arrangements too, which even late-seventies Genesis wouldn’t have been ashamed of. With its happy mix of mighty ambient, orchestral curtains and epic time changes crowned by a melodic chorus, »Omega Point« will surely please all Porcupine Tree fans too. The space-age atmosphere doesn’t let up from the first second to the last.
The cherry on top is the almost twenty-minute epic suite »Mobius Slip«, yet another brilliant cosmic journey through time and space, split into five completely different sections. The first is the layered ambient instrumental »In The Difference Engine«, which sets the stage for the enigmatic »Perihelion Continuum«, with Simon’s strikingly theatrical vocal performance and complex drum transitions. On the third section, »Salvation Found«, the hardest-hitting moment of the whole »Dimensionaut«, mighty stretches suddenly take over between gritty guitar passages and symphonic keyboard textures, while this time Simon uses a vocoder to distort his voice. The grand finale, the ambient climax, is the closing section »All Worlds All Times«, in the middle of which the Dimensionaut makes a fateful decision and sets off on new intergalactic journeys into the unknown.
With Sound Of Contact’s debut, Simon Collins proves beyond doubt that he’s diligently following in his father’s footsteps: with »Dimensionaut« his band has made a modern concept album packed with all the finest elements of the golden age of prog rock. »Dimensionaut« is an unforgettable ambient journey across the boundaries of dimensions in time and space, and it leaves a deep mark on the listener for a long time to come.
Line-up
Simon Collins – vocals, drums
Dave Kerzner – keyboards, backing vocals
Kelly Nordstrom – guitar, bass guitar
Matt Dorsey – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Hannah Stobart – backing vocals
Wells Cunningham – cello
Production
Simon Collins and Dave Kerzner
Track list
1. Sound of Contact (2:05)
2. Cosmic Distance Ladder (4:43)
3. Pale Blue Dot (4:44)
4. I Am Dimensionaut (6:24)
5. Not Coming Down (6:01)
6. Remote View (3:54)
7. Beyond Illumination (5:53)
8. Only Breathing Out (5:56)
9. Realm of In-Organic Beings (2:52)
10. Closer to You (5:05)
11. Omega Point (6:29)
12. Möbius Slip (19:35)
