Meadows & Io - 2024 - Above and Below

(68:28; Handmade Records)

Track list:
1. Vagrant Star 5:42
2. Magus Atoma 3:05
3. Space Beast 8:05
4. Doorways on Hilltops 9:26
5. Freak of Nature 7:05
6. All in One 7:36
7. Icaros 8:31
8. Diamond Fire 5:55
9. Cascades 6:17
10. Orion 6:46

Line-up:
Vegard Eggum - guitars, vocals, synthesizers, percussion
Claus A. Breda-Gulbrandsen - synthesizers, noises, vocals
Julian Bugge Moe - bass
Svein Olav Eriksen - drums


Prolusion.
Norwegian band Meadows & Io started out back in 2007, but with a prehistory that goes back almost an additional decade under a succession of different band names. They released their debut album "Fieldwork" back in 2011, but the band became inactive soon after with the band members being busy with other projects. In 2021 the band reformed, and in 2024 they released their second album "Above and Below" through Norwegian label Handmade Records.

Analysis.
Meadows & Io rather confirms their connection with the progressive rock universe straight away here, as the landscapes they explore are difficult to describe and challenging to define. Their excursions are most certainly rather far removed from what you might describe as conventional music, but these creations are mesmerizing and intriguing experiences too.

Synthesizers and keyboards are vital ingredients in these compositions, and the band tend to follow a little bit of a post-rock approach in terms of developing their songs from a more careful or atmospheric laden opening section and concluding them on a vibrant and majestic high, and there are enough textures at hand to make the post-rock association a clear one, where textured sounds is a tool taken into use to create a certain mood and atmosphere.

A vibrant and energetic bass guitar is a driving vehicle in some songs, and a more elegant and fluid one in others. A tight and firm rhythm section gets to have a central role in most of these songs in general, and the guitar is put to good use to deliver noise textures, more elegant motifs as well as a harder, darker toned and hard expansion of the undercurrents. It is the majestic keyboard sounds and the synthesizer textures and details that are the dominant effects here though, big, sweeping sounds that are elegant, dramatic and theatrical in expression, and with alternating futuristic, otherworldly and cosmic associations produced by these instruments.

Just where this band pull in their inspirations from I do not know, but I got associations to a great variety of different artists when listening to this production. Vangelis and Tangerine Dream for the keyboards, synthesizers and general mood and atmosphere, the post-rock tradition in terms of song structure and development, while some of the mood and atmosphere details as well as some of the vocal parts and what I'd describe as the general vibes of the songs made me think of the late David Bowie and, to some extent, Radiohead.  Possibly with a little bit of Trey Gunn as far as some bass guitar details are concerned, and I wouldn't be all that much surprised if this is a band that know their way about a little bit of King Crimson either.

Conclusion.
If a striking and fairly novel trip into atmospheric laden landscapes with a majestic and elegant feel and a dramatic and theatrical delivery strikes you as an interesting proposition, then this may be an album you should look into. In particular if you enjoy otherworldly landscapes, some post-rock tendencies  and a little bit of an art rock feel to be present in such ventures. If you like your Tangerine Dream and early 80s Vangelis just as much as 90s and later post-rock bands of the more majestic variety, chances will be very high for you to find the charms present on this album to be rather alluring I'd say.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, March 2025

Links:
https://www.meadowsandio.com/
https://www.handmaderecords.net/