ALBUM
CROWN LANDS
APOCALYPSE
Sony Music Japan International
Crown Lands have been around for just over a decade. A Prog Rock duo, they released their self-titled debut album in 2020 which was nominated in the ‘Best Rock Album ‘category at Canada’s 2021 Juno Awards, a ceremony where they also won the ‘Best New Group’ category. They followed that with two releases in 2023, Odyssey Vol. 1 and Fearless and then signed to Inside Out Music. This is their debut release in Japan and the rather splendid, deluxe edition, brings together everything released so far on that label.
Prog! Canada! Rush! Such is the way people’s brains work these days and whilst admittedly, yes, there are elements comparable to their homeland kings, you would be unwise to make such a hasty judgement. Is it a concept album? Yes. Does it have an epic piece that would take up one side of a vinyl album? Yes. That’s all of your questions answered so onwards to talk about the music itself.
As the first listening to Apocalypse reveals, Cody Bowles (v, d, flute) and Kevin Comeau (g, b, k) have created a multi layered, multi-faceted album, the complexities and intricacies of which we have rarely seen since Prog’s heyday in the 70s. Much like Yes used to use a lot of dynamics between soft and loud in their albums, so to have Crown Lands. ‘Proclamation I’ is an atmospheric intro before ‘Foot Soldier of the Syndicate’ blasts you with everything they have in their arsenal. No sooner have your ears adjusted to the barrage your head is trying to get around than the gentle opening of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ pops up. This song builds and has one of the finest vocal performances on the album, Cody’s range seemingly almost limitless. That’s followed by ‘Blackstar’, a more straight-forward rocker and then…well, no need to do a breakdown of every song, you get the idea. Incidentally, the narrative is of their own creation. I’ll let you work it out for yourself but the lyrics are well thought out and do add a whole lot more to the listening pleasure.
This being their debut release in Japan, Sony have added the previous release, Ritual, to this set. Consisting of two ambient pieces, ‘Ritual I’ and ‘Ritual II’, they are a far cry from Apocalypse, closer to the quieter segments of Mike Oldfield’s Ommadawn for the entire album. Soothing, relaxing and primitive, one wonders how the duo could come up with two albums so polarized. It should be noted as well that this is the worldwide debut release of that album on CD, it being previously released only on vinyl. The discs are mastered using Sony’s BSCD2 for a higher audio output and rounding out the package is the standard 20-panel colour booklet and a 20-panel Japanese B/W booklet with liner notes and translated lyrics.
Track List
Disc 1:
Proclamation I
Foot Soldier of the Syndicate
Through the Looking Glass
Blackstar
The Fall
The Revenants I
Apocalypse
Disc 2:
Ritual I
Dawn
The Storm
Vigil
Dusk
The Serpent
Ritual II
Tempest
Respite
Shadows under Moonlight
Mirage
In the Reeds
Celestial Marsh
SWEET ELECTRIC
SOMETHING SOMETHING DISCO
ALBUM
Independent
Hailing from Cologne in Germany, Sweet Electric haven’t been around long but they have already achieved. They formed in 2022, were invited to play Rockpalast in 2023, released their debut album, The Monsters Are Rising, in 2024 and have since slogged the live circuits, the combination of their good-time Rock ‘n’ Roll and stage charisma often nicking the headlines from the headliners.
The Monsters Are Rising opened with the attention-grabbing pumping rhythm and frantic vocal line of ‘Heir To The Throne’ and have come up with a similar number – with added guitar furious riff - to kick start this album. Catching your breath four minutes later, they settle down with ‘Mexico’, a straight forward rocker with a hooky chorus that’s guaranteed to get any audience dancing. ‘These Guns’ is more in the AC/DC and Guns ‘n’ Roses vein and then they throw ‘Something In The Middle’ at you, a Blues Rock, chugging singalong. Influences and different Rock genres come and go throughout (‘Get Up’ will throw you another curve ball) and taken as whole, it’s a superb piece of work. In short, don’t try and categorize Sweet Electric under anything other than Rock; they know no genre limit.
Clocking in at about five and a half minutes, the final track ‘Psycho’ is the icing on the cake. They throw everything into this song including some great production and a dynamite mix. There have been lots of songs written on this subject matter but never one as good as this that captures the manic thoughts of what we imagine a psycho’s mind is like. Scary, powerful and genius, it’s an unnerving freak-out.
Second albums are often a bit throwaway in that bands ride the success of the first and then suddenly find themselves in the position of having to come up with a set of songs to match the first. Pressure on, nine times out of ten, they fail. Not in this case where Something Something Disco far exceeds expectations. The songs are better, the performances are a step up from their debut and the variety is off the chart. Consistent from beginning to end, every track will be somebody’s favourite.
This album stands to be one of the best Rock albums of 2026. Add in the energy the band put into their live performances and they are sure to be selling out a decent sized venue near you soon; they’ll be bumped up the bill on festivals as well. 10/10 in all departments, this one is going to be on heavy rotation in my house for quite a while.
Track List
Sick In The Head
Mexico
These Guns
Somewhere In The Middle
D34D!
I Remember You
Long Way Back
Get Up
OMG
Psycho