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Gayle Ellett & the Electromags — The Painted River of Light
(Bandcamp Peacock Sunrise PSR-1-015, 2025, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-03-01

The Painted River of Light Cover art

On his third Electromags release, Gayle Ellett takes a different approach from previous albums. The group is back down to the core trio of Gayle Ellett (guitars, keyboards), Mark Cook (bass, Warr guitar), and Craig Kahn (drums), without the host of guests found on Friends. Another difference is that instead of ten-plus tracks as on Friends and Shiny Side Up, The Painted River of Light contains only four tracks, all of which are more than ten minutes in length. Each track is essentially a suite of varying sections, some of which are thematically related while some don’t seem to be. But it all hangs together and makes for enjoyable listening. It starts off with “The Illuminating Sands of Time” (a title which could refer to a hypothetical side five of Tales from Topographic Oceans), which kicks off with a distant Mellotron that could almost be out of a vintage King Crimson recording, then moves into sections that bring in elements of Pink Floyd, Camel, and maybe even Nektar. There are tons of tasty sounds from various kinds of guitar, as well as fun synthesizer sounds. “The Rhodes to Discovery,” of course, features electric piano prominently, and there are some ventures into funk as well. Some of the sections of pieces are fairly complete compositions of their own, while others are more fragmentary, with short sections that abruptly change and cycle through various motifs. The Painted River of Light is an exciting new chapter in the Electromags story, showing that they have plenty of ideas and are capable of branching into many directions without losing their way.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Gayle Ellett

More info
http://gayleelletttheelectromags.bandcamp.com/album/the-painted-river-of-light

 

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