Joanne Harris knows a thing or two about story telling, what with more than a handful of bestselling novels to her name, a number of the having won awards.. but it turns out she's a bit of a musician as well, and has her own band playing progressive music, #Storytime. They put out an album last year. I have to say, I rather like it.
The album follows a pattern of Joanne telling a story of distant, but knowable, worlds - worlds of bees, mermaids, Queens of the sea - with gentle incidental music underneath, mostly played on piano. This is then followed by a song relating to the story. There are four tales and tunes on this first outing.
There are Middle Eastern flavours in the music, which conjures, appropriately perhaps, the aural tradition of centuries passed, and the tales of Scherezade and Ali Baba. The arrangements are largely piano/keys (with the odd bit of Mellotron - it is prog, after all!), drums, bass, flute and vocal. The flute draws the mind toward Jethro Tull and early Genesis, though the piano led passages have an air of Renaissance about them - all highly enjoyable. More up to date reference points might be Judy Dyble or Jarrod Gosling's recent works, though without so much psychedelia; one might also find similarities with the output of Ian Neal.
I found the album immensely enjoyable, and have returned to it a number of times since receiving it last year. It is everything a progressive album should be, and I really liked that the production is very natural, with room left for dynamics to shine.
Stories and songs may not be the most slickly presented programme, but it's high art for an Earthly audience.
Another album is in the works, hoped to be found in early 2020. There might even be a gig at The Lantern Theatre..
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