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Kingfisher Sky — Walk the Plank
(Bandcamp no#, 2022, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-07-06

Walk the Plank Cover art

Kingfisher Sky is a Dutch band that’s been around since about 2005, though this EP is my first encounter with their music. A colleague reviewed their 2008 album Hallway of Dreams and found that its metal inflections ruined the experience for him, so he might be happy to hear that Walk the Plank has completely ditched that part of their influences, heading instead toward ethereal folk-rock with touches of progressive rock. The title track is a lovely song featuring acoustic guitar and piano backing Judith Rijnveld’s beautiful voice. The choruses reach for a dramatic sound with a choir of male voices and symphonic percussion. “Rites of Passage” features a kalimba-like sound providing the chords and reminds me of Happy Rhodes, say a tune from Many Worlds Are Born Tonight arranged for acoustic instruments instead of synthesizers. This is followed by another acoustic guitar and piano track, “All That Is Left,” which has an emotional melody and allows the bass and drums to bring in a rhythmic element. Cello is there in the mix too, though I would love to hear it more prominently. “Long Gone” is a short tune for Classical guitar and voice. Having been a music writer for several decades, I’ve developed a familiarity with a lot of relatively obscure music, so when I say Walk the Plank reminds me a lot of the band October Project, please excuse the reference to something you might not have heard. Go check out October Project to verify that this is a positive recommendation, or just take my word for it. Kingfisher Sky may not be doing anything groundbreaking here, but it is beautiful in a way that doesn’t strike me as sappy or cliched. This is 18 minutes that are not wasted and leave me wanting more.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Kingfisher Sky

More info
http://kingfishersky.bandcamp.com/album/walk-the-plank

 

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