Lunatic Soul
‘Walking on a Flashlight Beam’ (Kscope, 2014)
Walking on a Flashlight Beam is a beautiful introspective album by Mariusz Duda, the lead singer and bassist of Polish hard rock band, Riverside. However, there is no hard rock in Lunatic Soul. Quite the contrary, ‘Walking on a Flashlight Beam’ is a refreshing set of songs with exquisite ambient atmospheres, outstanding vocal overdub work and a wide variety of musical instruments played by Mariusz Duda.
Kscope is known for taking progressive rock in new directions and Walking on a Flashlight Beam is no exception. Lunatic Soul combines dreamy reflective songs with vibrant instrumental sections where space rock meets cutting edge electronica.
You’ll find echoes of Steven Wilson in the vocals, soaring guitar parts and lyrics, but Lunatic Soul has developed its own sound, which is much more atmospheric, with mesmerizing vocal work.
“Walking On A Flashlight Beam” – the title indicates living in a world of imagination, in a place that’s made up and unreal,” says Mariusz Duda. “You can have your head in the clouds, you can chase after rainbows so you can walk on a flashlight beam too. It’s a story about choosing to be alone, inspired by the life of people who were completely alienated and withdrawn from social life, who shunned all interactions with the outside world. It’s about people who, even on a bright and sunny day, have the curtains drawn and the blinds closed in their rooms. Such people are usually surrounded by books, films, games, figments of other people’s imagination. I’ve written about solitude and living in a world of fiction before in Riverside’s lyrics but now I’ve decided to write a whole album about it.”
“These are very dark and intense compositions but very melodious too. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, if not the best one”.
The album comes packaged in a hard cover book with lyrics, illustrations and cover design by Travis Smith (Opeth, Riverside etc). The two disc set includes the music CD and a DVD with an interview of Duda, describing the creative differences between Duda’s work with Riverside and Lunatic Soul.
Lunatic Soul’s ‘Walking on a Flashlight Beam’ shows how progressive rock can be truly progressive, when you incorporate electronic music, minimalism, creative vocal overdubs and sound effects. Walking on a Flashlight Beam is definitely one of the best releases of the year.
Purchase Walking on a Flashlight Beam in North America
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