Henry Fool – Men SingingMen Singing (Kscope, 2013)
Men Singing is the superb second album by British band Henry Fool. This instrumental album brings together the best that progressive music has to offer, with a creative mix of jazz-rock, psychedelic space rock and progressive rock.
The album opens with a piece titled ‘Everyone In Sweden’ with a first part full of spirited jazz rock that feels at times like the 21st century evolution of the legendary Canterbury sound. Band members take turns, treating the listener to a captivating series of creative solos and interactions on various acoustic and electric instruments accompanied by diverse and imaginative rhythms and textures. As the piece progresses, the music gets much quieter and less rhythmic; mesmerizing and dreamy.
The second piece, ‘Man Singing’ combines processed electric guitars, flute and electronic effects with a grooving rhythm section.
Track 3, ‘My Favourite Zombie Dream’, gets back to the space music realm with slow evolving electronic sounds and bass. The electric organ and mellotron that appear halfway through the piece bring back the essence of the best prog sounds from the classic British pioneers.
The last cut is another lengthy piece titled ‘Chic Hippo.’ It begins with state of the art symphonic progressive rock characterized by the productive interaction of violin and mellotron. Henry Fool are masters at transitioning to different moods. In this occasion, the music morphs into jazz-rock with exchanges between guitars and brass, hypnotic keyboards and percussion, and a spacey conclusion.
Men Singing was produced and arranged by band founders Stephen Bennett (keyboards) and Tim Bowness (guitars). Bowness is Steven Wilson’s creative partner in No-Man. The album was mixed by Jarrod Gosling (I Monster/Regal Worm). He plays mellotron, glockenspiel and contributes the surreal artwork.
Other musicians featured in Men Singing include the legendary guitarist Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), Brian Eno collaborator and Slow Electric member Peter Chilvers on bass, Michael Bearpark on guitars, Andrew Booker on drums, Myke Clifford on saxophone and flute and Steve Bingham on violin, all of whom have worked live with No-Man or as part of London underground club, Improvizone.
Henry Fool demonstrates what can happen when highly creative skilled musicians get together to explore the best that progressive rock has to offer. The following videos include edited versions of three of the four pieces included in the album.
Buy Men Singing in North America (to be released in April 2013)
Buy Men Singing in Europe