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Reviews

Kerrs Pink — Tidings
(Musea FGBG 4451.AR, 2002, CD)

by Jeff Melton, Published 2003-12-01

Tidings Cover art

The second new album from Norway’s reconstituted Kerrs Pink is another credible slice of neo-progressive rock with overtones of world and homeland folk. Old band members Jostein Hansen and Harald Lytomat have taken a few nods from such European peers as Jadis, IQ, and Kayak to resurrect their group yet again with a competent line-up. “Hour Glass” opens the disc and commences with a fade-in introduction with female backing vocal and lush synthesizer accompaniment from composer Freddy Ruud. Next up is “Tidings from Some Distant Shore,” a folksy hymn that has a similar feel to many of Mike Oldfield and Clannad’s power ballads with Lillian Hidal’s guest lead vocal as centerpiece of the track. “Yumi Yeda” is probably the album’s most important song and also a change of pace with its emphasis on swing tempo and seesaw melody line between synth and guitars. Additional backing vocalist Tracee Meyn delivers a blues element on five of the songs in the manner of Dark Side of the Moon. “Mystic Dream” is a multi-part composition that in contrast reminds me of Jadis in their prime emphasizing riffing guitars and co-composed by the group’s oldest members. Closing out the work is the only instrumental piece: “Le Sable S'Est Écoulé” samples a few slogans from US history. There are no new groundbreaking statements here, but the band’s roadmap calls for re-establishing a firm group identity could merit a stateside festival appearance for 2004.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 28, 2002 releases

Related artist(s): Kerrs Pink

 

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