This is the fourth album from Different Light, who were originally from Malta. They released their debut back in 1996, but it was only after moving to Prague that singer/keyboard player Trevor Tabone decided to create a different version of the band in 2009 and release a new album. Only guitarist/singer Petr Lux has survived from those days, and on this release the line-up is completed by Jirka Matousek (bass) and David Filak (drums). Listening to this takes me back roughly to the time of the debut, but not to Malta but instead to America. Back then there were a few progressive bands making new strides and pushing boundaries, yet there were also quite a few who were mixing American melodic rock with commercial progressive rock to create something which was very different indeed to most of the prog coming out of Europe. Indeed, when I saw a review of this album saying it sounded almost as if REO Speedwagon and Mystery had come together to form a single unit, I had to smile as I had been thinking a very similar thing myself.
Some of this may well indeed be down to Trevor Tabone, who is similar in many ways to Kevin Cronin, and one wouldn’t think he wasn’t American from his performance. The piano is very important to the overall sound, much more than the rest of the keyboards, and this combines with multi-layered guitars and loads of hooks to create something which is melodic, poppy, AOR and crossover prog all at the same time. It has been four years since the last album, but one can only hope that given the title the next album will be out sometime soon, as although this style of music was briefly popular some twenty-odd years ago it is quite unusual indeed these days, and I found I really enjoyed this. A very easy album indeed to get into on the very first listen, it only gets better with repeated plays. For those who enjoy the American melodic rock style with a tinge of prog, along with great vocals and songs.
8/10 Kev Rowland
