Although delighted to front leading djenters TesseracT, forsome years now, Dan Tompkins haseschewed being just a shoutyfrontman, hunting for likeminded souls – such as New Dehli proggers Skyharbor – to help him carve (another) slightly different niche.
Following 2014’s well-received debut One Thousand Wings, Tompkins and Skyharbor collaborator Keshav Dhar have found the perfect new home for their majestic, cinematic explorations – Kscope. Amid Anathema, Pineapple Thief and Blackfield, Atone’s themes of loss and hope are beautifully rendered and WMBB’s take on Sigur Rós, Mew and Tool fits right in.
Joined by Devin Townsend string arranger/producer Randy Slaugh and East Midlands singer-songwriter Jordan Turner, textural bridges link Tompkins and Turner’s tender duets Rising Sun and The Serpent as a deep, Asiatic undergroove leads out from the sounds of war, peace and everything in-between.
Smart, elegant and, importantly, youthful stuff.