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Octarine Sky — Close to Nearby
((Not on label) no#, 2021, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2022-04-07

Close to Nearby Cover art

I am familiar with Potter’s Daughter only from a couple of their singles, including one featuring Annie Haslam. A full album, The Blind Side, came out in 2018, but I haven’t heard it. Two members of that band are Dyanne Potter Voegtlin (piano, keyboards, vocals) and Jan Christiana (bass), who were working on a project with drummer Simon Phillips and discovered that the combination of musicians had a special chemistry. They decided to call it a band and named it Octarine Sky. For the guitar parts, they’ve recruited two players: Guthrie Govan (who probably needs no introduction here) and Amit Chatterjee (who plays with Potter’s Daughter). As proof that the chemistry is indeed special, the album starts with “One,” an instrumental that’s an arrangement of the first movement of Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Sonata #1, and it’s an absolute stunner. Voegtlin plays the piano part essentially as written, while Christiana and Phillips emphasize the complicated rhythms, which change nearly every bar. In this context, it’s easy to see this 1952 composition as a precursor of RIO. Honestly, this track is worth the cost of the album all by itself. As complex as that piece is, it’s rather stripped-down as far as instrumentation goes, and the following tracks bring in a variety of keyboards aside from the piano, as well as guitar and vocals. “Rosewind” introduces Voegtlin’s voice, which is very expressive and pleasant to hear. She’s also assisted by massively overdubbed backing parts. The guitar playing is stellar, flashy without overshadowing the other parts. Of the eight tracks, five feature vocals and three are instrumentals. The high energy level of many of the tracks, like the opener and “Night Sky,” is balanced by some more laid-back tunes like “The Mask.” Here, delicate acoustic guitar and piano are complemented nicely by fretless bass and Phillips playing with brushes. I feel compelled to mention “5,” which is a kick-butt instrumental workout with electric piano and a great melody on guitar and wordless vocals. And “VII” is another band arrangement of a modern piano composition, this one by Julia Schwartz. I can’t recommend Close to Nearby highly enough for just about anyone who enjoys progressive rock of most any variety.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Simon Phillips, Octarine Sky

More info
http://recordwonderland.com/UPC/762183633627

 

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