Short Reviews [We Are Kin - 2015 - "Pandora"]

Having just received the latest We Are Kin album, it made me realise I had never actually reviewed the debut, which I have had for quite a while so felt I ought to resolve that particular issue. We Are Kin were formed by drummer/composer/producer Gary Boast and guitarist/keyboard player/singer/composer/producer Dan Zambas, who originally were going to form the band with singer Hannah Cotterill who (un)fortunately got a paying gig on a cruise ship so only appears on a few of the songs. The result is a concept album which in many feels like a low-key project as opposed to a band. While there are many similarities with the 90’s underground scene, it is more melodic than much of that, and there are also elements which are quite poppy. It does not feel polished at all, and feels much more like a self-release than one from BEM. There are times when the swathes of keyboards makes one think of classic Pink Floyd, but the spoken elements do feel rather clunky and the overall impression is more of some good ideas which have yet to meet their potential. Given this album was released back in 2015, yet hasn’t garnered a single review yet on ProgArchives shows that this didn’t get much visibility when it was first released, but possibly the new album will go some way to address that.