Spirit of Yellow is a collection of 13 songs selected from the Stone Premonitions catalog by Tim Jones with an eye toward new interpretations by the current edition of CoH. I didn’t review the album when it first came out because at the time I found myself getting overly immersed in comparisons with previous versions. However, both The Rabbit’s Hat and CoH have commonly revisited and reinterpreted songs, so there was nothing new about this except the current edition of the band, which was largely the reason for revisiting the songs for an entire album. With those thoughts, and hindsight, my mind is considerably freed up and I can now focus on the music from a new edition CoH standpoint.
It’s important to understand that there are two dimensions to CoH. There’s the song oriented side and the spacey-psychedelic side. But the songs are by no means void of Psychedelia. Even the songs that clearly could have mainstream appeal often incorporate cosmic elements. To quote the line that I repeat in every CoH new album press release, CoH have “created a truly unique brand of Psychedelia, incorporating a variety of Progressive Rock, Space Rock, and experimental influences and what one reviewer described as the ultimate marriage of Psychedelia and song-oriented Progressive Rock.” (That one reviewer is me.)
Songs like Forest and More Than Ashes communicate a rocking majesty, with trademark Stone Premonitions vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, melodic rocking guitar leads and deep space floating keys. Riding The War, Lie Again and Sara Jane are all classic Tim & Terri vocal numbers. Church is a standout track and a stellar example of the new dimension that John Simms’ guitar brings to the music. John is a veteran of the Progressive/Hard Rock world through his band Clear Blue Sky, who date back to albums on the Vertigo label in the early 70s. Plus we’re treated to more spacey keyboard embellishments and freaky looped effects, which wrap themselves lovingly around the souful splendor of the song. Hieronymus is another highlight and an outstanding example of CoH’s flair for dreamy singer-songwriter Psychedelia, now further enhanced by Dave Hendry’s cosmic soundscapes and bubbling synths and John’s subtly spaced out and efx’d licks. Dave is an artist who should be well familiar to Aural Innovations readers through many albums by his Ohead project. Infra Red acknowledges John’s contribution by including a spacey melodic coda to the song that he composed. Mountain Climbing is a song that Tim and Terri have revisited several times over the years and on Spirit of Yellow it’s a corker, with stunning vocals and great guitar. I love the soulfully raw Blues of Blood On My Shoes, and the spirited, uplifting Soul of Free Yourself. We also have two songs that I consider to be standouts among the entire Stone Premonitions catalog. With Terri~B on vocals, Ephemeral Fire is one of the most sultry and soulful torch songs ever recorded. As if she were some kind of Psychedelic Sade, I’m reduced to a swooning mass of jelly when I hear this song. In fact, Terri’s entire 1998 released Wrap Me In Your Skin album, where this song first appeared, could bring the world to its knees if it had sufficient exposure. Closing the set is Orion, for which there can be no definitive version, simply because it’s such a timeless classic among the Stone Premonitions catalog. It’s pure magic in every form. In fact, Tim and Terri’s peers acknowledged the power of this and another song – The Moon – with the 2004 released Moon Orion Project, in which various bands contributed their own interpretations of the songs.
- Aural Innovations
It’s important to understand that there are two dimensions to CoH. There’s the song oriented side and the spacey-psychedelic side. But the songs are by no means void of Psychedelia. Even the songs that clearly could have mainstream appeal often incorporate cosmic elements. To quote the line that I repeat in every CoH new album press release, CoH have “created a truly unique brand of Psychedelia, incorporating a variety of Progressive Rock, Space Rock, and experimental influences and what one reviewer described as the ultimate marriage of Psychedelia and song-oriented Progressive Rock.” (That one reviewer is me.)
Songs like Forest and More Than Ashes communicate a rocking majesty, with trademark Stone Premonitions vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, melodic rocking guitar leads and deep space floating keys. Riding The War, Lie Again and Sara Jane are all classic Tim & Terri vocal numbers. Church is a standout track and a stellar example of the new dimension that John Simms’ guitar brings to the music. John is a veteran of the Progressive/Hard Rock world through his band Clear Blue Sky, who date back to albums on the Vertigo label in the early 70s. Plus we’re treated to more spacey keyboard embellishments and freaky looped effects, which wrap themselves lovingly around the souful splendor of the song. Hieronymus is another highlight and an outstanding example of CoH’s flair for dreamy singer-songwriter Psychedelia, now further enhanced by Dave Hendry’s cosmic soundscapes and bubbling synths and John’s subtly spaced out and efx’d licks. Dave is an artist who should be well familiar to Aural Innovations readers through many albums by his Ohead project. Infra Red acknowledges John’s contribution by including a spacey melodic coda to the song that he composed. Mountain Climbing is a song that Tim and Terri have revisited several times over the years and on Spirit of Yellow it’s a corker, with stunning vocals and great guitar. I love the soulfully raw Blues of Blood On My Shoes, and the spirited, uplifting Soul of Free Yourself. We also have two songs that I consider to be standouts among the entire Stone Premonitions catalog. With Terri~B on vocals, Ephemeral Fire is one of the most sultry and soulful torch songs ever recorded. As if she were some kind of Psychedelic Sade, I’m reduced to a swooning mass of jelly when I hear this song. In fact, Terri’s entire 1998 released Wrap Me In Your Skin album, where this song first appeared, could bring the world to its knees if it had sufficient exposure. Closing the set is Orion, for which there can be no definitive version, simply because it’s such a timeless classic among the Stone Premonitions catalog. It’s pure magic in every form. In fact, Tim and Terri’s peers acknowledged the power of this and another song – The Moon – with the 2004 released Moon Orion Project, in which various bands contributed their own interpretations of the songs.
- Aural Innovations