I always thought that instrumental music is a great challenge for me as a listener in terms of how a song without lyrics could make me not lose interest and keep me entertained. On their new album Long Distance Calling don’t have only instrumentals, but also songs with vocals, but even on those you get the feeling that the singer plays a supportive role, as they are four all in all (five including the bonus track).
The band surely is free and truthful to its prog principals directs its melodies without boundaries and restrictions without caring about tags in their music. “Trips” colors are gray, melancholic and mysterious with the song themes turning from mesmerizing to inspiring the feeling that you are on a journey. The scarce vocals in the album come from solo artist Petter Carlsen, who is not clear if he should be considered as a permanent band member, or just a guest vocalist. Comparing to their previous work “Trips” could be found as softer, not so post rock, and not even so prog, but more “mainstream”. Still, it’s a great piece of work that’s interesting to listen to from start to finish adding another great album on Long Distance Calling’s discography.
