bySomething ELSE – Hope

Once again, a band from Canada comes up with a debut album that promises a lot of good. A beautiful cover and a striking singer, namely Michel Renaud and let that be the new singer of Red Sand . Their album The Sound of Silence has also just been released and to be honest, I do hear quite some similarities with the album discussed here. I understand that bySomething ELSE also regularly performs as a cover band that plays songs from the old Marillion. Certain things can also be heard on Hope , but that is only limited. The way that the band name is spelled is not a type error by the way it is as spelled on the album cover.

I have to say right away that the CD version of the album is difficult to obtain and that would normally be a reason for me not to review an album.  I therefore miss some additional information as is normally provided in the booklet. So why did I choose to do it in this case? Somehow I had faith in this album. Was that justified? Yes, but only partly, because there is a well-known problem when listening to Hope, there are beautiful songs on it but also a number that appeal to me a bit less. That has to do with the choices a band makes, do we go for smoother, shorter compositions or do we dare to make more complex music. As is often the case, Something ELSE has  chosen to try to satisfy both sides and that results in a prog rock album with two faces.

There are eight tracks on Hope and they are generally of average playing time, between five and seven minutes. Only the last song Better Days is almost ten minutes long and is immediately my favourite of the album but more about that later.

Renaud is a great singer and the lyrics are generally about current affairs that are in the news and what that does to us. They are quite easy to follow and sometimes a bit of the "make love not war" type. But it's mainly about the music and that is fine and sometimes even very good. There are actually a number of references such as Saga (Sing the News) or the Dutch Marathon.

Smooth songs like Here and Now, Too late or Sing the News have a somewhat simple rhythm and are more straightforward, but with multiple keys and guitar solos. Those are fine by the way, Martin Tremblay is a versatile keyboard player and guitarist Stephane Bergeron has a style that reminds me of Steve Rothery and Simon Caron of Red Sand and sometimes plays some nice weeping, wailing solos. Home has a bit of both worlds and certainly has a few beautiful moments but also a somewhat predictable chorus.

The rhythm section also plays well, drummer Pierre Latullipe and bassist Paul Roberge often opt for the more obvious rhythms and maybe should look for adventure more often. I think they can do that just fine because the more complex songs prove that.

In Burning Truth we hear a real prog track with a beautiful melody and a lot of variety, too bad it's so short. As is often the case, the sting is in the tail and that means that the last two tracks are not only a bit longer but also show the best of this band. Still missing is actually an ode to music and starts a bit predictable, but gradually this track develops into a nice bombastic finale with of course a wonderful guitar solo that is very reminiscent of the aforementioned Simon Caron. Yet it can get even better and the long Better Days proves that. A wonderful intro with a solo guitar on a background of wide keys is followed by a plucking guitar with a lot of echo, and that could easily be from Marillion. The tempo is low and the harmony vocals are very beautiful here. It's not super complex or anything but you feel the emotion and feel the finale coming and it's beautiful with leading roles for both keys and guitar. Imagine, an entire album with these kinds of high-quality tracks.

If bySomething ELSE dares to opt for adventure and a little more complexity, I predict an even better second album because I really hope they will make a follow up. For the time being, however, we have to make do with this album and if you like some song-based but varied prog then this could be something for you. I like it.

The beautiful cover will have been made with the help of AI but I don't care, it's beautiful.

Music 79

Cover 95