Over the years our Swedish Flower Kings friends
have created a certain sound, a certain identity which has people lookout for
that particular sound on every single release. With the arrival of bassplayer
Jonas Reingold on the wonderful “Rainmaker” album, the band stepped
slightly aside from this kind of ‘blueprint’ sound, introducing some jazzy
sidesteps. With “Unfold the future”, the band now also fully introduces
Zoltan Csörz on drums and because he is also heavilly into jazz no doubt
Jonas and Zoltan are having a field day on this new double disc. Roine Stolt
wasn’t looking for a new “Back to the world of adventures” or “Flower
power” so any new and daring ideas were more than welcome. Needless to say
Jonas and Zoltan introduced a healthy dose of new elements into the music
which came at the right time for the band. On top of that new injection,
singer Hasse Fröberg has never sang as good on this album as ever before. On
previous albums it sometimes sounded as if he wasn’t able to reach the high
notes at ease but here it’s like listening to another singer. It’s that
good and fresh. By adding the well established Tomas Bodin and leader Roine
Stolt the Flower Kings we are listening to right now is a completely new band,
with new ambitions which translates itself more towards great unconventional
music than towards massive sales. The first disc immediately kicks off with the
longest track on the package. With it’s 30’40”, ‘The truth will set
you free’ is an album in itself containing tons of influences and changes.
Especially due to the thick Rickenbacker sound of Jonas and the often superb
vocal harmonies this track gets very close to vintage Yes so people who have
been waiting for a ‘Close to the edge’ sequel might be very pleased to
listen to this song. One major surprise certainly are the wonderful vocals of
Hasse Fröberg who seems to be much more at ease than ever before resulting in
an almost completely different timbre. When he delivers a high pitched vocal,
Jon Anderson never is far away. And the Yes ressemblance goes even further
when Tomas Bodin introduces some superb church organ which is like a part of
‘Awaken’ gets the Flower Kings treatment ! ‘Monkey business’ is a
completely different kettle of fish with a more direct, funky endresult. Roine
sings ‘I’m not a loser anymore’, which in my honest opinion he has never
been since day one because if Stolt had been born in England or the States
he’d been a star many moons ago ! In ‘Black and white’ some weird
Zappa-esque elements are combined with Kit Watkins-like keyboard playing. If
you thought this song went too far from the FK roots then wait until you’ve
heard ‘Christianopel’ which in a way holds the same level of improvisation
as the third movement on the Yes double spread “Tales from topographic
oceans” : ‘The ancient – giants under the sun’. This certainly is more
of a treat for the true musician rather than the ‘static’ listener
resulting in Weather Report meets Sun Ra and beyond. The first true statement
of the newborn Flower Kings where jazz rules ! This experiment fuses into the
bombastic symfo rocker ‘Silent inferno’ which sports a decent amount of
drumbreaks before resulting in a latino/Santana feel. ‘The navigator’ is
kind of a song I see Roine singing whilst sitting on his children’s bed when
it’s time for them to go to sleep. The kind of lullaby feel is augmented by
some sparse mellotron sounds from Tomas. Disc one ends with another fragile
highlight called ‘Vox humana’, one of Roine’s favourites. The song
immediately starts with a great catchy melody which is then used by Hasse
again adding superb singing to this outstanding album. Disc two opens very fiercely with the powerful
‘Genie in a bottle’. Based on a rather simple rock rhythm the song also
includes some bluesy slide guitar but also some deep bassoon sounds. The song
also gives opportunity for Roine to include an authentic rock approach on
guitar whilst Bodin sees the possibility to attack his synths in a weird way.
‘Grand old world’ is regarded by Roine as being the ‘Sting’ song on
the album not in the least because of the inclusion of saxophone and the
laidback atmosphere of the song. It certainly doesn’t fit with the rest of
the album but then again isn’t that what TRUE progressive is all about ? The
acoustic bass from Jonas gives the song the dimension it really needs and
together with the subtle percussion sheds a different light over the
capacities of our beloved Flower Kings. This approach even goes further during
the daring ‘Soul Vortex’ which once again highlights the new rhythm tandem
Jonas and Zoltan. I’m not that fond of ‘Rollin the dice’ because Hasse
sings a little in the ‘independent rock’ style at times which doesn’t do
the arrangement any good resulting in my least favourite of the package until
the final piano piece which is a nice example of authentic ballet music. In
‘The devil’s danceschool’ it’s as if Miles Davis is visiting our
Swedish friends adding some great trumpet to yet another Jonas/Zoltan
dominated track. This track once again illustrates the strength these guys
have in the field of improvising because no doubt this song could go on for at
least half an hour should they wish to do so. Another simple yet wonderful
song certainly has to be ‘Solitary shell’ which is mainly based around a
great vocal melody, piano and strings : the perfect illustration that you
don’t need layer upon layer of overdubs ! Just like bookends this double Flower Kings
treat begins and ends with a real epic. This second disc comes to an end with
the 24’30” long ‘Devil’s playground’ which once again contains tons
of influences and atmospheres all neatly tucked away under the FK blanket !
Once the rhythm starts it’s as if Anekdoten has joined forces adding an
atonal feel to the music. A little further into the song PoS singer Daniël
Gildenlöw adds some great backing vocals getting close to vintage Pink Floyd.
Then suddenly the feel of the music becomes rather sombre introducing a brass
section which delivers a medieval feel first but then switches towards
avantgarde outbursts. In ‘Devil’s playground’ there’s a constant
question-answer situation between rock and jazz, between outlined scales and
improvised sections, between a live feel and a studio encounter, in other
words : the best of both worlds ! Now isn’t that what true prog should be
all about ? Fusing elements from all over the musical spectrum in order to
create and deliver something sparkling and fresh, something new all along. If
you thought you knew what Flower Kings was all about wait till you hear this
album. Take the time, put the phone from the hook, put your voicemail on,
barricade your house, sit back, relax and let the Flower Kings “Unfold the
future” ! Reviewed by John 'Bobo' Bollenberg |
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