Thoughts
FTF, 2024
8/10
A French prog-rock influenced outfit, Sloane Square Band are spearheaded by the guitarist, singer and composer Claude Segalin, who navigates through these powerful 9 tracks.
“Thoughts” starts the listen with moody strings, where warm singing is met with elegant keys and much maturity, and “Odd Love” follows with a dense and hard hitting demeanor that uses Guy Pratt’s meticulous bass, as a soulful quality enters.
Landing in the middle, the thumping ideas of “Fishes” steers closer to hard-rock with plenty of sturdy riffs, while “My Fathers” lands in intimate areas of strings, keys and emotive singing.
Deeper into the back half, “I Will Never” balances beauty and grit via a heartfelt performance of a hard hitting rhythm section versus the romantic singing, and “Jane” exits with soaring guitar and memorable backing vocals courtesy of Joniece Jamison that add much to the thoughtful finish.
An accomplished effort that embraces balladry and rugged moments, the storytelling here is expressive and music applicable to any era of prog-rock.
Travels well with: Sun Q- Myth; The Raging Project- Future Days