Yak - 2025 - The Pink Man & the Bishop

(54:00; Yak)






















After Martin Morgan read my review for the latest edition of Camel’s ‘The Snow Goose’ he felt inspired to get in touch and see if I would be interested in hearing his latest release, which I why I am now listening to the first Yak album in ten years, and the first where Martin played everything (apart from one of the bonus tracks which includes ex-bandmates Gary Bennett and Dave Speight). I must confess to not having previously come across Yak, as they were originally playing between 1982 and 1984, before Martin decided to resurrect the band in 2003. There have been a few albums since then, and I am obviously going to have to seek them out as this shows a great deal of promise.

We will move rapidly past the drumming, as that is the one area where this album could be improved, and instead concentrate on some incredibly lush and wonderful keyboards which are combined with some wonderful guitar patches to create music which sounds as if it is coming to us straight from the Seventies. It could be said that Martin lets his influences shine free for everyone to hear, but in case you didn’t get the clue the second song on the album is “Crimson Camel”, but perhaps a better title might be “Camel, Crimson, Genesis, Camel”, and it is a wonderful delight, just as one might imagine it would be given the title. 

Anyone who enjoys classic British progressive rock from the likes of Tony Banks,  Dave Greenslade or Peter Bardens (not so much the flashy over the top Wakeman or Emerson) will find an album which is an absolute delight from beginning to end. It is fresh, invigorating, yet somehow is also very dated, but in a nice manner. There is something about the sole cricketer on the cover, cutting for four, which is very English, and it certainly heralds what is inside. Packed with beauty, this is all about the emotion and the layered arrangements as opposed to just showing how clever he is, although Martin is undoubtedly that, as this album is a delight. 

Kev Rowland, October 2025

Links:
https://www.yaksongs.com/

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