“We Claim The Moon” is everything you’d expect from The Flower Kings. Long, but compelling. A prog journey that flows like a great river – exquisitely done. What sets them apart, though, is the way they’ll cheerfully move into jazz at the drop of a hat.
TFK have an ambition most bands can’t compete with. “The Elder” is so gentle and uplifting it could brighten the most miserable day.
The keys have always been central to The Flower Kings’ sound, but never more so than here. There’s a lilting, almost contemplative quality to the superb “How Can You Leave Us Now?” while the intricate instrumentation of “World Spinning” is from the very top drawer.
The initial darkness of “Burning Both Edges” gives way to a study in melody and harmony, before drifting off, floating away, as many of these songs seem to do.
The organ and guitar of “The Rubble” bring a slightly different flavour – more akin to Deep Purple – but still with that sense of “don’t try to second-guess us.”
There’s another instrumental interlude, this time built around the guitar, on “Kaiser’s Razor”. These pieces act like a sorbet, clearing the palette before “The Phoenix” and “The Promise” – two shorter, folk-tinged songs – lead us in a fresh direction.
The near-title track “Love Is” plays out like a film in three parts, yet somehow it all works.
On songs like “Walls Of Shame,” there’s a quality that feels mercurial. However accessible they might seem, there’s always more going on beneath the surface – details that only reveal themselves on repeat listens, such is the depth of ability on display.
And of course, it ends with an epic. “Considerations” closes things with a soaring guitar solo, a perfect overture, and it’s easy to picture the band as a full orchestra preparing to perform in some gorgeous old hall.
This is prog rock in the classic sense – not prog metal.
“What you give is what you are,” sings Roine Stolt, the man who’s piloted this band for over 30 years. On that basis, the love they receive for “Love” is thoroughly deserved.
