Rain, featuring former IQ and Arena bassist John Jowitt and former Frost* and IQ drummer Andy Edwards, have announced details of their second album. Break The Silence is due out through GEP at the end of January.
“The writing and recording of the album couldn't have been more different to its predecessor, Singularly, released in 2020," says Jowitt. "While that album was a result of lockdown isolation, Radio Silence was written through collaboration, with many of the backing tracks recorded live at Mark Westwood’s state of the art studio in Worcestershire.
"Radio Silence sees Rain confidently expanding the sound developed on Singularity; heavier and punchier, but keeping the signature jazz and funk elements, with lead vocals from Rob [Groucutt, keys], Mirron [Webb, vocals] and now me.”
Although Jowitt and Edwards were both in IQ in the mid-00s, they reunited by chance in 2019 when they ended up playing together in Birmingham-based folk rockers Quill. The idea to create proggy music together swiftly followed along with the first splashes of Rain.
The four-piece have now shared a teaser of new material in the form of opening track, Genaú, which they performed in March 2022 at Prog Dreams IX in the Netherlands. The title comes from the German word for “exactly”.
Says Edwards: “This album has really been a labour of love. I knew we needed to surpass the first release and thanks to the expanded production palette supplied by Mark in his incredible studio, and the experience of finally getting out and playing live together, I think we have created some of the best songs I have ever been involved in in my career in prog. This collection of tunes really takes you to some wonderful places. I’m very proud of this one and cannot wait to get these songs out there.”
Mirron describes the new songs as having "a new intensity: the bright songs brighter, and the dark songs darker.”
Listen to a sneak preview of Genaú below.
