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Tuesday The Sky: Drift
Tuesday The Sky - Drift CD Album Review

Tuesday The Sky: Drift

(Instrumental) Progressive Rock
3.5/5.0

Tuesday The Sky and Drift is the project and debut album from Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos. If you're familiar with, or especially a fan of, either the band or the guitarist, you may find this album of some interest. The seeds for the project came from a song Matheos believed didn't fit the last Fates Warning album, 2016's Theories Of Flight. Expanding upon that writing, Matheos created ten new songs for the album.

Jim Matheos Photo

Jim Matheos

Drift is largely an instrumental album, which I did not know when it was pitched to me. I stopped reviewing instrumental albums, especially those from guitarists, some two years ago. Basically, I find instrumental albums hard to decipher and so to explain with some creativity and clarity. But here's my best shot.

Largely, Matheos seems to be blending riffs and leads with a healthy dose of electronica to create an ambient and often ethereal sound. Additionally, in quite a few songs, there's a juxtaposition of lighter movements, usually in the early half or two-thirds, with something heavier, often larger riffs, sometimes a solos. Westerlies is a good example. Conversely, a song such as Far And Away starts lightly, but quickly thereafter adds sharper riffs, a pause for some synths follows, but then it's back to the same spry riffs. Similar is the song It Comes In Waves, where Matheos' brisk guitar work is slinky-like cyclical between the ambient electronica movements. Ergo, the song lives up to its name. As for the vocal songs, they are Vortex Street and Westerlies, but you can't really hear Anna Lynne Williams (Lotte Kestner, Trespassers William). That may be intentional. Also, there's some weirdness going on within Roger, Gordo, with some guy talking in the background. I wasn't sure what he was saying.

In the end, I think my best description of Tuesday The Sky and Drift is that it's shoe gaze instrumental ambient progressive rock. If that statement, or any of the words proceeding it, have piqued your interest, then by all means, check out Jim Matheos' latest adventure. Enjoy the video below.



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The Bottom Line

I think my best description of Tuesday The Sky and Drift is that it's shoe gaze instrumental ambient progressive rock.

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