Frontiers Music [Release date: 6.12.26]

Nowadays, Asia is Geoff Downes, Virgil Donati, John Mitchell and Harry Whitley.

We reviewed the band’s most recent release, Live In England, back in March this year.

This new studio album is quite special. The music is by turns, epic and intimate.

And we would be failing in our duty not to mention Geoff Downes’ keyboard work, always subtle, never demanding, providing not just the fabric, but the foundation of nearly all the arrangements.

Opener, ‘Traveller’ sets the scene, adding Virgil Donati’s metronomic beat, Mitchell’s majestic axe soloing to a very Wetton middle eight.
The track’s clean lines rise to a beautifully hymn like hook on the chorus. It’s already memorable.

A dramatic orchestral opening sets us up for ‘Arcadia’, fading into a dreamlike state, behind a twinkling keyboard accompaniment.

The song leans into the traditional idea of Arcadia being a mythical destination, a kind of sanctuary, a peaceful pastoral paradise, an escape from life’s daily difficulties. “There’s a road that lies beyond the dark, where broken hearts are saved, Arcadia”
Maybe just a bit too sweet at times, but arguably one of the album’s high point.

It’s hard to avoid the Peter Cetera comparisons on the carefully crafted ballads, ‘Is This The Life?’ and ‘Change Of Heart’. The piano and acoustic guitars shimmer, laying a bed for Whitley’s vocal mix of Cetera and Wetton, soaring through the songs’ romantic moments.
He switches between the high notes and the low notes with such surprising immediacy and skill, that he makes it sound effortless.

‘Hymn For The Fallen’ and ‘Night And Day’ are both slick, shiny, and soft, music that can appeal to the widest possible audience. It allows the Wetton penned songs, ‘Tattoo Indigo’ parts 1,2 and 3, rock music in ternary form, to sound even more exotic than they otherwise would.

‘Valencia” opens like a movie soundtrack.
The reference is a tragic maritime disaster which took place on Vancouver Island’s Pacific coast back in 1906.
The band take a low key approach, avoiding most of the heartbreaking detail of events. Just as well, perhaps.

Elsewhere, guests Mike Portnoy and Steve Howe separately contribute to ‘Chesapeake Bay’ and the ‘Tattoo Indigo’ trio.

Only two more of the standouts on this 16 track tour de force. Asia ia alive and exceedingly well. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

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Josh now hosts “Taerk’s Tracks” as part of the Singer Songwriter Sunday sequence on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

This is the second show broadcast on 25 October Josh presents some of his inspirational artists and tracks.

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 18 October 2026.

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Power Plays w/c 26 October 2026

BLACK RIVER DELTA Shame On You (Despotz Records)
DAYTONA Listen To The Silence (Escape Music)
SUCKERTRAP Sacred Lies (indie)
WOOD BURNT RED Count My Blessings (indie)
BLACKLIST UNION Heavy Is The Crown (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 26 October 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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