In Plain Air - View From The End of a Dream (Mean World Records)

There is something transcendent about In Plain Air, something that hints at past glories but which also feels perfect for the here and now; I guess that is the definition of timeless music. Or at least music which exists out of time. They also have a wonderfully loose appreciation of where generic boundaries start and finish, which frees them from the shackles of musical tribalism or listener expectations.

“View From The End of a Dream” is a lush affair, a track which runs on funky back beats and mellifluous bass vibes, whose vocals evoke a Laurel Canyon sensibility, which has a wonderfully loose feel to it, too together to be merely labelled psychedelic but too relaxed to be regarded as prog. It’s a brilliantly walked fine line. And then you have guitar work that he is happy to contribute soulful licks and chiming shards but ramp things up in the fluid and fantastically understated, Santana-esque flurries of sublime jazz-rock.

It is hazy and harmonious, subtle and supple, music that travels at its own pace and evolves only as and when it sees fit, rising from soulful understatement and spiralling slowly and seductively upwards into the realms of more weighted art-rock.

All music uses the past as a springboard, and you can clearly see the strands and hear the sounds that connect In Plain Air with what has gone before. But, the great thing about the band in general and “View From The End of a Dream” in particular, is that while it is easy to see where they are coming from, where they are going is the much more exciting aspect. I, for one, can’t wait to see where things go next.

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