Short Reviews [Karl Eisenhart - 2024 - "Lessons"]

This album originally started life as a lyrical project as part of Karl’s master's degree in creative writing. Due to the pandemic he then found himself with enough time to be able to write the music to go with it, and while there are plenty of guests, none of them are on more than one track and Karl provides vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drum programming. A quick look at the others involved and I note that Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish, Shineback) is one of the three lead singers working with Karl, but given they are together in Tribe of Names perhaps that is no real surprise. For the most part this is Nineties neo prog and is a fun listen, but it is also one of those albums where the more it is played the more one finds wrong with it. Firstly, and most importantly, Karl is a good singer, but not a great one. This means there are times when the music has far more impact and effect than when there are vocals, and serious consideration should have been given to using more singers throughout. The same is also true of the drums in that there are only a couple of songs which utilise drummers, and these stand out against the others. Both these elements detract somewhat from the album which is a real shame as there are some very nice songs and arrangements within this. The bass is wonderfully fluid throughout and is what pulls everything together, complex, and complicated and always right up there with the guitar which provides some wonderful cut through. The keyboards are more of a supporting feature but work well. One of the most interesting numbers is also one of the simplest, with “The Island” commencing with acoustic guitars and bass, gradually building with keyboards to an expressive guitar solo. At well under three minutes in length it is by far the shortest song on the album, yet here Karl’s vocals are just right and fit in just right with the emotions being portrayed. If this had been a full band as opposed to a project recorded mostly in isolation then I think the result would have been far more powerful, but as it is this is still an interesting release while not truly essential.