The Swan Chorus are a six-piece progressive rock group of seasoned musicians from the Liverpool area. Formed as a result of the reunion of the song-writing duo of David Knowles (keyboards) and Colin McKay in 2015, they soon recruited a number of talented local musicians including vocalist John Wilkinson and bassist Dave Jones (both members of the popular Genesis-tribute band, 'Mama' and more recently Tim Bowness's fictitious band project, Moonshot). Along with Peter Dover on drums and Les Norton and Eddie Devlin on guitars they released their eponymous debut back in 2018. Like so many hard-working progressive rock bands, it is so often the case that quality music releases, that deserve a wider audience, just 'fall through the cracks.' I was personally unaware of their existence until a fellow TPA reviewer asked me to have a listen to them a week or so ago. I'm very pleased I did!
Over 10 tracks, including several of an extended length, you get some very enjoyable prog-pop to dive into. Music that is both vibrant, melodic, accessible, and song-oriented; yet also instrumentally progressive. Powerful, confident vocals and a deeper lyrical content throughout. This is infectious prog that needs to be spread to a wider audience. Describing their style and sound is not straightforward, as the band have created their own soundscape, whilst signaling their influences across their diverse collection of tracks. There is, not surprisingly, a strong later-period Genesis feel, largely related to John's impressive Collins-like vocals and David's melodic, later-period, Banks-style compositional structure. However, David is not afraid to add a layer of classic-era keyboards and synthesizers when appropriate.
The Hilary Step starts the album with an upbeat, chiming rhythm and pop sensibilities, yet David's symphonic keyboard chords add nice proggy touches (especially towards the end) and John's clear vocals send out a hard- hitting statement of American politics over a mountaineering analogy. "When I get to the bottom, I am never going up again!" Light and shade for sure. From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=11120
