Major Parkinson - 2022 - Valesa Chapter I. Velvet Prison

(60:05; Apollon Records)

Track list:
1. Goodbye Blue Monday 1:11
2. Behind the Next Door 4:31
3. Saturday Night 4:06
4. Ride in the Whirlwind 1:41
5. Live Forever 7:15
6. Sadlands 1:14
7. Intermezzo 2:15
8. Jonah 6:35
9. Velvet Moon 2:00
10. Irina Margareta 5:07
11. The House 3:27
12. The Room 4:43
13. Posh-Apocalypse 2:07
14. Moma 2:15
15. Lemon Symphony 1:59
16. Fantasia Me Now! 6:57
17. Heroes 2:42

Line-up:
Jon Ivar Kollbotn - vocals, synths, piano, flute
Sondre Skollevoll - guitars, vocals
Öystein Bech-Eriksen - guitars, harp, whoaphone
Lars Christian Björknes - synths, piano, vocals
Peri Winkle - violins, vocals
Eivind Gammersvik - bass, synths, percussion, guitars, organ, blackboard yubi
Sondre Veland - drums, percussion
with:
Jens Erik Aasmundseth - percussion
Carmen Boveda - cello
Linn Frökedal - vocals
Anders Bjelland - guitars
Bjarne Tresnes Sörensen - harmonica
Kadeem Nichols - vocals
Porcha Clay - vocals
Naarai Jacobs - vocals
Megan Parker - vocals
Ashly Williams - vocals
Eric Lynn - vocals
Erik Brooks - vocals
Thea Meidell Sjule - vocals
Vilja Kjersheim - vocals
Anja Moe - vocals
William Gröv Skramsett - trumpet


Prolusion.
Norwegian band Major Parkinson has been a mainstay in the Norwegian progressive rock scene for a couple of decades, and the handful of studio albums the band have released over the years have all been well received by critics and fans alike. This has also been a band that have been constantly developing their sound and expression, with most albums being markedly different from the previous one in one manner or another. "Valesa" is their most recent studio production, and was issued by Norwegian label Apollon Records in the fall of 2022.

Analysis.
As of 2022, Major Parkinson as a band have started to enter landscapes that will be rather alien to many fans of progressive rock, and it is a good question if the music explored on this production really can be described as rock music in the first place. For a band that is developing and venturing into different landscapes, they have really ventured forth on this occasion, of that there is no doubt.

Major Parkinson have always been a quirky and off kilter band, and they retain that characteristic also for this latest studio album however. The longer songs and many of the shorter ones too will still twist and turn in multiple directions and sometimes seem to grow back into themselves at certain points too, coming across as the band version of a contortionist on occasion. The structure of the material retains a progressive spirit, and the execution shouldn't leave all that much to be desired for fans of progressive rock either. This is a quirky and off kilter album of the kind that is hard to place and define in an accurate manner, and experimental is a word that fits the premises here to a T.

But rock isn't really the style explored here, although we do get some surges reminding of that past of the band too. Instead synth pop, electronic pop and some instances that possibly can be described as electronic rock takes the lead here, with delicate piano and vocals interludes, atmospheric laden passages that comes across as synth pop takes on the works of Tangerine Dream, and a little bit of chiptunes added in for good measure. That one of the songs gets a gospel addition probably merits a mention too. References to 80's and 90's synth pop are numerous, and even while we do get a few instances of the style being explored in a more purebred manner the approach and execution tends to be in the quirky and off kilter department.

What makes this album work, even to a greater extent than the quirky and off kilter features, are the vocals. Jon Ivar Kollbotn does an excellent job in being a crooner as well as a dramatic and theatrical vocal and vocal effects provider, and the other vocal roles that appear throughout the album contrast his displays nicely but also follows along on the ride into these realms of vocal versatility in the emotional department. With clever and effective use of vocal effects as a part of this totality. While it is wrong to say that the vocal presence carries this album, stating that they clearly elevate the end result appears to me to be a distinctly appropriate description.

Conclusion.
Major Parkinson is one of those bands that appear to follow a path very much of their own, and one that seems to be filled with a progressive spirit to a very high degree too. I don't know if a band has ever made an album that can be described as progressive synth pop before, but as of 2022 we now have at least one album now that fits that definition rather perfectly. An album to seek out by those who love progressive music that is quirky and off kilter, and are curious as to what that may sound like in a synth and electronic pop dominated setting.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, October 2022

Links:
https://www.majorparkinson.com/
https://www.apollonrecords.no/