Autumn Moonlight "Passengers"

Good evening and thanks for the return visit fellow progheads!  My calendar broke this week; never a pleasant thing...so time for a road trip!  Spring travel is always fun so I decided to take the Concert Closet to a place I have not been in  awhile...Buenos Ares, Argentina.  Autumn Moonlight, two talented musicians who have been putting out some incredible prog, recently released their latest album, "Passengers."

Calling themselves a progressive post rock band, Autumn Moonlight challenges boundaries as they blend a post-modern jazz feel with progressive overtones.  You may remember Autumn Moonlight being in the spotlight of  The Closet Concert Arena just about two years ago; they return now for us to witness first-hand how the band has grown and flourished while cultivating their unique sound in the prog garden...

 For no particular reason, we'll start the prog buffet with some lighter fare; "Transcend."  The song peels the curtain back gently with an acoustic opening that builds momentum on drums that explode in your head like roman candles...semi-bright colors everywhere against the backdrop of a dark, moonlit sky...and the festivities have begun...

Moving along the buffet line I find a cut that strikes a bit harder right up front; "Last Stand."  The drums and guitars try to one up each other as the tension begins to build.  The crescendo of sorts strikes as guitars "win" the battle and the dust settles a new calm over everything.  There is a jazz fusion meets prog metal thing going on; think Jaco Pastorius and George Benson meet Dream Theater.  Autumn Moonlight throw mostly dark colors at the canvas--but they do include a few bright hues to expound on the imagery.  This piece winds down delicately yet there is a tension in the air...not quite the Robert Fripp guitar solo in "Red" but enough to keep you looking over your shoulder...

Liner Notes..."Passengers" is the third album in the quiver of Autumn Moonlight, released November 2017.  Founding members of the band Tomas Barrionuevo and Mario Spadafora have developed a sound that cascades over you with an unsuspecting force; you don't feel overwhelmed or shocked, although you never did see it coming.  Listening to their earlier music I have an appreciation for how they have developed.  Not that the early works were less deserving, but like a great single malt, one of the key ingredients is time.

Learn more about Autumn Moonlight at their website Autumn Moonlight.  You will find "Passengers" as well as the rest of their catalog available for purchase at Autumn Moonlight bandcamp and Autumn Moonlight iTunes.  You can follow the band on Twitter
@AuMoonlight  and Facebook Autumn Moonlight FB.

My final selection to savor from this album is "Breathe."  The opening throws you at first; is this a dark mellow cut or a storm about to wreak havoc?  Perhaps a bit of both so you may be better off doing as suggested and inhale...then release.  The guitar works beautifully with the drums as they both alternate between a gentle touch and penetrating blows.  The canvas is flush with dark hues trimmed with striking primary colors, a contrast that belies an inner turmoil...and all this in sixty seconds.  Autumn Moonlight waltzes down the center aisle of the prog garden dabbling in the control section of all your senses.

Your aperitif this week is the title cut, "Passengers."  Once again Autumn Moonlight opens the door with trepidation only to leap out and hit you straight on.  Top notes of God Is An Astronaut are filling the room, interwoven with a touch of the introspective/instrumental side of The Alan Parsons Project.  Ironically,  there is a sense of motion as you close your eyes and just melt into the music...perhaps we are all passengers riding through the prog garden, searching for inner peace...

                       

All of a sudden the week is in the rear view mirror and while we are seven days closer to the end, we are also seven days richer thanks to another splendid find on the search for all things prog.  Autumn Moonlight plays with a passion that seeps through the headphones and massages your temples while  working its way down your spine; the jolts are there to keep you focused.

Now it's time to prepare for the next leg of the journey as the search for all things prog seeks out more music worthy of your listening and attention...until next time...