If back in his VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR days David Jackson used to work hard, lately the veteran reedman has been laboring even harder, and a new record bearing the veteran’s name seems to appear every few months now. Just recently, it cropped up in association with his joint project with Marco Lo Muscio, but there’s a fresh one, implemented in the company of Dutch singer and multi-instrumentalist René van Commenée and planned for release on February 2nd, 2024.
The two friends are former professional truck drivers who took to the road when temporarily, due to family situation, out of showbiz, which explains the cover and the overall theme of “Keep Your Lane” – that’s the title of their forthcoming album, a follow-up to “Papoose”: a limited-to-250-copies curio with unique artwork, a USB-stick with music and other goodies, all packed in a minibox. What arrives in its wake is the result of Jackson’s delving into his working ideas during lockdown and passing the sketches to René who reciprocated with pieces of his own, as well as having a few luminaries over – including Colin Edwin on bass and John Ellis on guitar – to augment a dozen current cuts and a reimagining of VdGG’s classic. And the results are extremely interesting. (Read the review.)
& RENÉ VAN COMMENÉE –
Keep Your Lane
1. Eternal Caravans
2. Garden Shed
3. Bird’s Lament
4. Gateway
5. Waving At Strangers
6. Gridlockdown
7. Hills Of The North
8. Get A Grip!
9. Kozokudoro
10. Pinball Potter
11. JackLanzCom Haiku
12. Pioneers Over c, 2023
13. Felona
