Bigger On The Inside By Rachel Flowers

Oh my goodness I am listening to something amazing. I have just discovered, through a random association on Amazon Music (I was listening to Jadis), the incredible Rachel Flowers, an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. There's an excellent mini-bio on IMDb which I've linked below.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5231044/bio/

Composer is important, because these songs are not thrown together in five minutes. You can hear the thought and craft that went into them. On top of that, she's a great singer. And her lyrics are excellent!

How do I describe her music? Well, it's definitely progressive rock. Extended themes. Three of the songs are longer than 10 minutes and the album clocks in at 67 minutes. The melodies, though, are out of this world. There's an American twist to some of them which at times reminds me of TV theme tunes, but in a good way. Kind of progressive rock and soft jazz. Track 7, for example, "The Darkness" has a sublime refrain which builds and builds at the end.

There is so much for lovers of progressive rock to like here. The musicianship is superb - and it's all her, including the beautiful lead guitar sound. And it all feels so positive, so optimistic, it's such a great antidote to prog rockers banging on endlessly about the end of the world and post apocalyptic landscapes.

Her website contains a great selection of "20 albums that greatly influenced my life" which is very revealing. Miles Davis, Joe Jackson, Spock's Beard. My kind of list. Actually, you can really hear the Joe Jackson in this album.

http://rachelflowersmusic.com/

I can't write any more about this album. It's so good. Put down whatever you're doing and go and listen to it right now. You won't regret it.

Reasons to listen:

  • You would like to hear your new favourite musician
Reasons not to listen:
  • You are so cynical and world-weary that the overwhelming positivity of this album will only serve to reveal the deepest, darkest shadows of your soul

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