Fearful Symmetry - 2025 - I've Started, So I'll Finish...

(53:00; Progrock.com's Essentials)






















Suzi James (guitars, bass, keyboards, flute, violin, oud, mandolin), Yael Shotts (vocals) and Sharon Petrover (drums) are back with their third album, following on from 2022’s ‘The Difficult Second’. Yet again Suzi has taken on a huge amount of work, providing all the instruments (apart from drums) herself, except for the input of Mark Cook on Warr Guitar on one track. Yet again I must say this never sounds like a project but instead feels like a full band as Suzi truly is a master of many instruments so one never realises it is just one person doing the work.

Yet again the arrangements are key, and Suzi maintains interest by using both different instrumentation and approaches to ensure one is never sure what is going to happen from one song to the next.  I must admit to not really enjoying much of the drum sound, and I wonder if Sharon is using an electronic kit this time as while the playing is great the sound is quite muted and somewhat dead at times. The Celtic sound of “The Dance of the Ghillie Dhu” is one of the highlights of the album, with the twin electric guitar interplay making one think of classic Fairport, while the violin is quite restrained in comparison. Yael has a wonderfully clear vocal style, and again I found myself really enjoying her performance, which again greatly assists in not allowing one to realise this is by and large a multi-instrumentalist’s release. 

There are times when this is a great release, with the bass and guitar combining to create something very special indeed, yet there are others which make me feel this is a solid crossover prog album which is interesting, but not quite as exciting, dynamic and powerful as the last one. It is nicely layered and thoroughly enjoyable, but there are also moments when it tends to somewhat drift along, and one wonders what might happen if this was a true band with people having outside opinions. As it is, this is yet another nice release from Suzi, and I look forward with interest to see what comes next. 

Kev Rowland, February 2026

Links:
https://www.fearfulsymmetry.rocks/
https://essentials.progrock.com/

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