Short Reviews [Einar Solberg - 2024 - "The Congregation Acoustic"]

Back at the beginning of 2022, Leprous singer Einar Solberg reinterpreted the Leprous album ‘The Congregation’ in full, just piano and voice, as a special live streamed performance. That performance has now been made available as an album, with no overdubs or changes, so we can hear it just as everyone else did at the time. Now, I must admit that I was not a huge fan of the original album, and although I love ‘Coal’, I have not always been nearly as effusive over Leprous as many others who seem to view them as one of the most important prog bands of the last few decades and they can do no wrong. There is no doubt that Solberg has one of the most amazing voices one can ever hear, and the way he slips into falsetto is seamless and simply remarkable, while he is also a fine pianist who provides an accompaniment which is never over the top but adds to his vocals to make them stand out even more. My problem is that while in many ways this is nothing short of brilliant, that does not make it something I actually want to listen to repeatedly. He is baring his soul to the world, yet I am wondering how much longer the album has to go, and do I really want to listen to 11 tracks of this? It is an interesting concept, and I am sure that Leprous fans will flock to it, and I will be castigated once again for being at odds with everyone else, but that is okay with me. He is an incredible singer, who demonstrates here that he does not need any studio trickery to perform in ways which are beyond most singers, but I was not a fan of the original album, and this has done nothing to make me want to revisit it.