Band: Daymoon

CD Title: “All Tomorrows”

Label: Independent Release

Label Website:

Release Date: 2011

Once again I’m struck by the sheer will of progressive rock artists to get their music heard; even it’s only by a small group of individuals.Daymoon has become a project headed up by founder Fred Lessing and it is only through his dedication (and those around him) that this great music is available to be heard. Based in Portugal the core band has come to be made up of Fred Lessing (guitars, woodwinds, vocals, keyboards, ethnic instruments), Luís Estorninho (bass), Adriano Pereira (reeds, backing vocals), Paulo Catroga (keyboards, backing vocals) and Fernando Guiomar (guitars). By my count Lessing has also enlisted the help of at least 13 other musicians that contribute to the band’s sound.

All Tomorrows features ten tracks ranging in length from 2:28 to 13:49. Stylistically the music of Daymoon is a broad mix of many different prog sub-genres. At times it’s clearly symphonic and other times it’s more quirky art rock and then at times even a bit of avant-prog. With so much going on, as you move through the disc, you really become unaware of where one track starts and another begins, partially because there are so many musical change-ups within each tune. Ever present is the interplay between keyboards and guitar, but just as noticeable will be flutes, reeds, clarinets and French horns. Take a song like “Sorry” [10:58] that proceeds from pastoral acoustic guitar landscapes into atonal interludes that then flow into an almost sixties psychedelic vibe and then into huge symphonic swells of music that cascades over a searing guitar lead line. It’s also great to see the 12-string guitar used here-and-there. In many respects this is classic progressive rock, borrowing from other styles and incorporating it into something new and original.

With a musical history that goes back over 30 years, you begin to understand why the musicianship is so strong on this disc but without question a lot of credit must go to the composition and arrangements. The music on display here is first-rate. I’m surprised that a prog label hasn’t snapped them up yet. As a result of this oversight, the music is only available as a digital download so make sure you check out their site. There’s some great music on All Tomorrows and it deserves to be heard. I really liked it a lot.