Band: Thieves’ Kitchen

CD Title: “The Water Road”

Label: Independent Release

Release Date: 2008

Band Website: www.thieveskitchen.co.uk

 

Some months back I played a tune from the last Thieves’ Kitchen CD Shibboleth for a friend. And much to his surprise it didn’t sound anything like he’d been led to believe the band sounded like. He was more than pleasantly surprised, made a note and purchased the CD. Based on what he’d read or heard, he thought Thieves’ Kitchen were more of a “mainstream” sounding band, which if you’ve heard any of their music you would know that’s simply not true. Now with their fourth release The Water Road, Thieves’ Kitchen go even further to emphatically demonstrate their desire to go beyond the “mainstream.”

 

The band has undergone a slight change in line-up. Still in place from their last outing is Amy Darby (vocals, percussion, recorder, Theremin), Andy Bonham (bass), Phil Mercy (guitars) and Mark Robotham (drums). New on keyboards is Thomas Johnson. On the disc they also have the assistance of Anna Holmgren (flute), Stina Petterson (cello), Mattias Olsson (loops) and Paul Beecham (saxophone, oboe).

 

Never afraid to tackle the epic tunes The Water Road starts off with the stellar “The Long Fianchetto” (24:01) featuring loads of Mellotron (recorded at Anglagard’s Studio in Stockholm by the way) and more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at. Flutes, cellos, searing guitars, grand crescendos, stirring melodies and long instrumental sections interspersed with delicate vocals from Darby. Classic Symphonic prog! There are a number of times where this particular piece reminds you of Glass Hammer, although to be clear Thieves’ Kitchen put their own mark on the music in many ways such as with Mercy’s distinctive guitar sound and style. There are other times throughout the disc where there’s just a hint of that Scandinavian quirkiness often heard in some of the odder Flower Kings compositions, a kind of melancholy Avant-prog. In total there are eight compositions on The Water Road all but two of them almost eight-minutes or longer. But even the two shorter tracks have much to offer. This being the band’s fourth official release, the performance is that much more confident as are Darby’s vocals. They’re able to tackle a tune like “Chameleon” (9:00) which is pleasantly melodic throughout featuring some beautiful melodies with chorused reeds, flutes and Mellotrons or “Om Tare” (7:44) which features a more aggressive almost jazz-fusion infused early Yes styled performance with angular stinging guitar, organs and Mellotrons or even the mostly moody, dreamy and atmospheric “When the moon is in the River of Heaven” (7:47) which builds in intensity but never goes over the top and great thing is the band handles all of these different styles and more with equal ability.

 

Over the years Thieves’ Kitchen have traced a remarkable musical path, with each disc displaying more and more complexity.The Water Road is to my ears a stunning release! Fans of the band are way ahead of the game, but if you haven’t picked up on Thieves’ Kitchen yet, what are you waiting for? Fans of bands such as Glass Hammer or Underground Railroad and others along those lines will be blown away by what they hear on The Water Road. It get’s my highest recommendation.