M U S I C

On our last album, LIFELINE, we attempted to loosely trace the coming of age of an every man(or woman). A sort of Pilgrim's Progress meets The Wonder Years.

Our new album, ILLUMINATED, is an observation of the current crisis of human faith and identity in an increasingly mechanized modern world.....as well as the dubious pleasures of pot smoking.

As more and more of the mysteries of the world are "illuminated," if you will, by the growth of technology, the original impulses that created religion and philosophy are becoming obsolete. The second cut on the album, The Harvest Man, presents this picture.

So what are we doing about it? Well, shopping and watching television. Smoke and Mirrors is our take on the current rush of "return to primitive mysticism" or "I do believe in spooks, I do, I do" shows involving the soap opera lives of witches, as well as vampires as crime solvers, that can be found all over prime time.

Some people find an answer through escapism, either through casual imbibing (The Lotus Eaters) or rampant consumerism (The Neon Light) For some, there is the tried and true method of traditional belief (The Golden Gates), although its own built in contradictions demand the kind of faith that can be its own curse as well as blessing (see T.S. Elliots' "Journey of the Magi.")

So is this album all pessimistic, nihilistic drivel? Well, if that sells it, sure! But I ask the listener to consider Streaming, especially it's last verse, as well as the closing lines of Harvest Man to see that, despite the struggles, there is something wonderful about being human, the proof of which is often in how we not only interact with each other, but the amazing things our hands and minds are capable of, in the "cities that glow on endlessly." And though our lives seem often at the whim of some wheel of fortune (A Game of Chess), it's in playing the game that we persevere and rise.

So what about the almost title track "Illumination?" I leave that to the listener. We remain a band that seeks to raise the questions, but allow you to make up your minds for yourselves, whatever direction that may be.