Album review: WILL PIKE – Under A Delphic Moon

November 21st, 2023 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Will Pike about his music. First broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, 26 November 2023

Self release [Release date : 05.11.23]

Will Pike is a rock guitarist, ambient synth player and solo artists, who also works with the anthemic rockers Spin Out UK and an ambient project called Thudweil.

Both musical elements are to be found in this magisterial instrumental solo album called ‘Under A Delphic Moon’, which places the emotive power of music at the centre of his work.

While the album title points us in the direction of the mysterious and possibly mystical, musically he is quite the opposite, building his layered sound on precisely constructed textures and cohesive elements.

There’s never a wasted note and tone colour is sacred. Each musical element finds its space in an ethereal musical journey that spans space-rock, ambient-rock, prog, funk, fusion, psychedelia and electronica.

The fact that at times its hard to separate a guitar tone from a synth drone might probably be regarded as a triumph for someone like Will, who realises his own musical vision by writing, playing and producing his own music.

From the phased opening chunky guitar figure, rumbling bass, eerie backdrop and intense solo of ‘Skull Faced Monk’, we’re dropped into an album on which the guitar and synthesisers beautifully coalesce to create a filmic landscape.

The eclectic song titles say much about his cerebral music. He taps into the subconscious through a mesmerising combination soundscapes, drones and fleet fingered guitar playing, all subtly framed by an aching production.

In many ways this is the kind of album that the innovative ECM record label should have picked up. Pike gives full substance to his unfettered imagination, innovation and the occasional subtle catalytic influences such as Pat Metheny, Steve Hillage and Robert Fripp.

And Fripp is very much an influence on the repeated robotic riff of ‘Android Dream’, a perfect example of music evoking the song title.

It’s a mix of feverish percussion and fusion, with ever presence eerie drones, chiming chords and swirling synths, in just over 5 minutes of sonic delight.

‘Cloudburst’ lightens the intensity with an understated funky opening, significant drones and a trumpet bathed in echo and reverb.

Apart from his musical ability Will Pike is also sculptor, which might explain his meticulous use of a layered sound with programmed drums and plug-ins.

His real art lies in the way he can draw us in (no pun intended) to an audio landscape which connects both viscerally and emotionally.

One moment he’s dabbling in big portentous sounds, and then by contrast he might explore a tremulous solo that evokes vulnerability.

The aptly titled ‘Transcend’ is an example of the latter. It’s a celestial piece with a warm guitar tone, nuanced notes and an embedded synth, albeit it’s punctuated by occasional crashing cymbals.

It fills the room with an intricate tapestry of sound, born of interwoven guitars and nuanced electro tones.

‘The Fez’ is a muscular percussive stomp soaked in ethereal tones. It creates a subtle tension between the restless rhythm track and the faux psychedelic squalls on a song that borrows its exotic title from Steely Dan.

A heavy tabla-led percussive intro announces the dark unrelenting ‘Devil’s Maestro’. It subtly builds to embrace a sludgy Zeppelin style drone, topped by a cluster of ethereal Pat Metheny style jangling tones.

Pike’s craft lies in the free flowing emotion of his playing. He locks into a groove and fully explores its possibilities by weaving his way through the track as if wandering through the darkest night with a torch.

This is music that transcends genres. It flows like a river, cascading through the undergrowth until its finds a new course.

It also has a whiff of music of the spheres, in which everything is proportion. Listen for example, to ‘Hope Horizon’, on which the crunching drum sound, pulsating bass and dirt sounding Hammond is counterweighted by his boldest guitar tone so far, with which he generates the hope to be found in the song title.

Having established the groove he fires off repeated riffs bathed in subtle echo, before a tough and yet eloquent solo which ultimately gives way to a Hammond outro.

As an uplifting penultimate track, it reaffirms the sense of proportion and balance that gives the album its impact.

‘Party For One’ delivers an almost spiritual finish to an exhilarating one man musical journey, which opens with real intensity and works towards a more meditative ending.

A beautifully Hawaiian toned solo hovers over the track like a bird surfing in the vortex of a slipstream. It’s primal, exhilarating and stirs the soul.

The perfunctory ending is the only time he metaphorically takes his paint brush off the canvas, safe in the knowledge that his work is done. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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