Melodic Revolution 2023
Tracks In Space
Veteran of psychosync wars trades dreams of heaven for a chance to tread cosmic routes.
“I walk the streets like I’m invisible,” sang former FLASH frontman on "One" which signaled the long-overdue beginning of his solo career, yet while Colin Carter’s swagger whirled in that album’s variously styled grooves, showing the singer’s wide swathe of influences, it hardly was what his followers expected. Neither is this EP – but, for all its surprising sonics, “Tracks In Space” is a perfect reflection of the English artist’s intrepid spirit and penchant for musical experiments. Playing every instrument within earshot and delegating more intricate guitar lines to George Keller, the warbler offers a contemporary view of progressive rock without ever restricting the vibrant palette displayed here with a lot of subdued panache.
There’s wondrous freshness oozing out of opener “Running Through The Smoke” as programmed drums and countdown set the pace for effervescent, if frantic, riffs which feel so unfamiliar that, until the vocals strike, the listener would not know whose record this is, yet when they do, Colin’s magnificently streamlined onslaught, urban and cosmic at the same time, and his funky bass and economic keyboards which flesh out the slider-oiled soundscape, can’t be stopped. However, the piece’s “London bridge is falling down” finale should bring the narrative down to earth, and the relentlessly scintillating, dynamically staged “Night Vision #2” – picking up where its first chapter left off – raves through neon-lit streets of a sci-fi city panorama enhanced with soft voice and fretboard filigree, and “Love On The Move” finds Carter in an almost operatic mode, predatorily intoning a resonant serenade over heavy beat and muscular six-string twang.
And then he’s unfolding an Eastern-flavored reverie of “Sea Of Dreams”: an epic essence of his romantic sailing – given a flamenco-esque solo and an orchestral scope to drown one’s sorrow in, but there’s also “Back To Life” with its triumphant ivories and stellar singing that, glorifying the veteran’s return into the fray, might take this cut to the charts forty years ago. Don’t rule out such a possibility now, though – at least, unless CC changes his tracks for the next full-length endeavor.
****4/5
