Short Reviews [Lunear - 2024 - "From Above"]

This is either the third or fourth album from Lunear, depending on if you include the covers album ‘Gostraks’. Now, I reviewed that last one, and to be honest I was probably not as kind as many others, yet Paul J.No (keyboards and vocals) still reached out and asked if I would be interested in this one which I admire him for – it is very easy to only ever look for people to give good reviews, yet in reality it is honest reviews where people get the most benefit. The line-up is completed by JP Benadjer (guitars, bass and vocals) and Sebastien Bournier (drums and vocals, the same guys who have been working together since their debut in 2018. There are only four tracks, but opener “In Their Eyes” is more then 25 minutes in length and there are two more longer than nine, so I guess we can forgive them for that. At just under 50 minutes long this is to me a perfect length for an album, too many bands seem to equate quantity with quality, whereas back in the day the most popular cassettes (ask your parents) were TDK-90’s, as we could easily fit an album on each side (45 minutes). This album feels as if it is from a totally different band from the one who provided the covers, as working on their own material has allowed them to play to their strengths, and while the music often feels quite compressed with little in the way of space that actually works to their advantage. As one would expect from a very long track there are multiple sections, and there are times where they are very Floydian indeed, yet one never knows quite where they are going to lead and while there are often long-held keyboards as a support to the guitars or vocals, it all comes together very strongly. There is a freshness and strength within this album, as the listener understands there is a clear direction even though we have no visibility of the path which is going to be taken. The vocals are clear and never strained, and there is a sense of humility and very much inviting us into an inner sanctum and to be part of the secret. If you are a proghead who enjoys your music to be somewhat dreamy and reflective then this is certainly worthy of further investigation as this is easily available through Bandcamp.