Tenk Van Dool & Paul Sears - 2026 - Basal Ardor

(43:12; Deko Entertainment)

Here is the second album from the pairing of Tenk van Dool (Temple of Switches) and Paul Sears (The Muffins) plus a sprinkling of guests including the likes of Ruben Riera and Steve Mitchell from Paul’s band Cho-Zen Few, Dave Newhouse from The Muffins and Clara Belle Hembree from Maheekats. In each case, apart from the improvised “Land of the Free” which was totally improvised, Tenk is credited with the music and Paul with the drum arrangement, showing just how much impact each has. Some of the songs have a guest singer although many do not, and five of the eleven songs feature just Tenk and Paul. Tenk is a multi-instrumentalist so provides whatever is required while Paul provides drums and percussion, although there needs to be a callout on “Cappy’s Sledge” where he also provides “Satan’s cowbell”(!).

The set opens with the album version of their 2025 single, “King Koln”, which in itself is a rock version of “Koln” which appeared on ‘Aperiodic Grok’. This is one of the truer progressive songs on the album, with bass, guitar and synths interweaving (you can’t beat the good old sound of a MiniMoog) with the drums to create layers with plenty of space and are not compressed together yet somehow are still tightly combined. There are quite a few jazz elements throughout, along with improvisation, plus there are some songs which do not contain metered time which allows them to swell and breathe. 

The arrangements are such that Paul is very much the equal partner with Tenk, something which does not happen enough in most forms of music as the drummer is often mixed in the background so they can be heard, but not at the same level as the melody, but here the drums are an integral part of the experience. He can be bombastic or nuanced, clearly demonstrating why he commanded the drum seat in The Muffins for decades, and then there is Tenk. He is a master musician, knowing what is required and what instrumentation is needed to drive the melody so at times the guitar is front and foremost and at others it is keyboards. He is also not precious, so on the tracks where Steve Mitchell plays, he passes over the bass, even though he plays it on all the others. I wish there were more tracks like “Tribledation” as this is the only one which features Dave Newhouse, and the relationship he has with Paul is simply wonderful with Tenk neatly slotting in to create something special. Perhaps a trio album might be next?

This is a fascinating “difficult” second album which will be of great interest to those interested in eclectic, Rio or jazz-flavoured prog. Superb. 

Kev Rowland, June 2026

Links:
https://tenkvandool.com/
http://www.paulsears.net/
https://www.dekoentertainment.com/