Riversea
Out of an Ancient World
Self Released
2012
Riversea was formed when Brendan (piano/synth) gave Marc (vocals/acoustic guitar) a CD copy of his 2005 solo album. The latter liked it a lot that they decided to join forces and blend their individual musical styles around the summer of 2006. They kept on exchanging ideas and generally collaborating for half a decade, and eventually a satisfactory number of songs was produced (alas, not all of them made it into the album). When it came to recording these songs with a full “band” sound, some friends, who also happened to be wonderful musicians, gave a helping hand: Bryan Josh (Mostly Autumn), Liam Davison (Mostly Autumn), Paul Cusick, Adrian Jones (Nine Stones Close), Ashley Mulford (Sad Café/Mandalaband), Mark Rowen (ex-Breathing Space) and Adam Dawson (Stolen Earth) on guitars, Dave Clements (Kings of Queen) on bass, Janine Atkinson Benn (The Dark Flowers), Olivia Sparnenn (Mostly Autumn) and Louise Dawson (The Wigglers) on backing vocals, Alex Cromarty (Heather Findlay Band) on drums and Tony Patterson (Regenesis/So Gabriel) on flute.
“Out of an Ancient World” is an amalgam of atmospheric and progressive rock embodying influences from Queen, Pink Floyd, Marillion etc. Yet, those influences are ably blended with their personal ideas so the work done has its own musical identity. The album provides superb harmonious melodies and the mellifluous sound of the flute at times gives an overall offbeat sense of nostalgia. Should you be looking for easy listening music Riversea is not your cup of tea… but if you lust for esoteric, bittersweet and emotional songs then the album will surely grant you satisfaction; outstanding song arrangements (the musicians delivered them wonderfully too), lyrics capable of touching your soul and passionate vocal performances keeping you awed… laconically, music meant to last. Scrutinizing each one of the songs separately to give you a hint of what they can evoke would be both time consuming and, in that case, wrong as I feel that every single person will respond differently to the band’s songs. The production is strong and clear, a very significant thing for any kind of music generally but a little more for this specific genre in particular. The cover art and artworks are by Ed Unitsky; a bright work indeed.
Supposing music is a means to reach our inner self, how deeply can a band penetrate? That was the actual question which lingered inside my head while listening to Riversea and long after having finished the album for the fifth time. Rhetorical questions don’t have to be answered since the answer always lies before your eyes… well, in that case your ears.
“Out of an Ancient World” is an amalgam of atmospheric and progressive rock embodying influences from Queen, Pink Floyd, Marillion etc. Yet, those influences are ably blended with their personal ideas so the work done has its own musical identity. The album provides superb harmonious melodies and the mellifluous sound of the flute at times gives an overall offbeat sense of nostalgia. Should you be looking for easy listening music Riversea is not your cup of tea… but if you lust for esoteric, bittersweet and emotional songs then the album will surely grant you satisfaction; outstanding song arrangements (the musicians delivered them wonderfully too), lyrics capable of touching your soul and passionate vocal performances keeping you awed… laconically, music meant to last. Scrutinizing each one of the songs separately to give you a hint of what they can evoke would be both time consuming and, in that case, wrong as I feel that every single person will respond differently to the band’s songs. The production is strong and clear, a very significant thing for any kind of music generally but a little more for this specific genre in particular. The cover art and artworks are by Ed Unitsky; a bright work indeed.
Supposing music is a means to reach our inner self, how deeply can a band penetrate? That was the actual question which lingered inside my head while listening to Riversea and long after having finished the album for the fifth time. Rhetorical questions don’t have to be answered since the answer always lies before your eyes… well, in that case your ears.