Hidden Orchestra - 2023 - To Dream Is To Forget [mini-review]

(46:02; Lone Figures)

UK project Hidden Orchestra is out with the album "To Dream Is To Forget", and this is a production that may be of interest also to a progressive rock interested audience. The landscapes explored here really defies any specific categorization, and while it is instrumental in form and revolve around many electronic impulses that only tells half the story, and perhaps not even that. A bit of dub and other elements from electronic music is something of a backbone here, set to escapades that include more ambient landscapes with score like qualities, gently cosmic excursions as well as world music flavored constructions that both share a few select properties with a few different generations of music a band like Ozric Tentacles have crafted over the years. In between this, and to some extent blended with this, are escapades that adds elements from jazz to the proceedings too. Everything is smooth and elegant, fairly broadly appealing too, but also with numerous subtle details and a bit of an unpredictable nature being present alongside compositions that also develop and reach logical conclusions. In terms of style and orientation there are progressive elements present for sure, but not in a manner that makes the landscapes fit into a defined progressive context as such. If electronic music mixed with score music, jazz, ambient landscapes, world music and cosmic sounds in a context that also have some progressive seasoning strikes you as something that sounds interesting, chances are good that you'll find this album to be a rewarding experience.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, September 2023

Links:
http://www.hiddenorchestra.com/