SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE FLOWER KINGS – LOVE

THE FLOWER KINGS
LOVE
INSIDE OUT MUSIC

Roine Stolt formed The Flower Kings in 1994 in order to tour and promote his solo album The Flower King. That touring group morphed into The Flower Kings, and Love is their 17th studio album (they have also released 10 live albums and four ‘Fan Club Only’ releases). As with their previous albums, The Flower Kings continue to explore prog rock and with their new album, Love they have come up with a prog rock classic. That is not to say that everything the band does sounds the same, quite the opposite, The band expands the definition of prog rock and has come up with an astounding musical and colourful album.

Based in Copenhagen, three original members are still part of the band. Joining Stolt (guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals) are his brother Michael (who left the band in 1999 but returned in 2021) on bass, and Hasse Fröberg (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, tambourine). The newer members include drummer Mirko de Maio and keyboardist Lalle Larsson.

The album flows beautifully from the opening track, “We Claim The Moon” through to the last track, the epic “Considerations”. The band performs tight, well structured, spacious prog rock songs with wonderful harmonies sprinkled throughout the album. Each member gets their time to shine with solos, and each solo adds so much to each song.

There is so much to discover on the album, a song like “World Spinning” with a wonderful synthesizer solo harkens back to Brian Eno circa 1971. Here it sounds a little retro but still very fresh, exciting, and new. The instrumental is short but packs a very strong melodic punch. Then a song like “The Promise” features beautiful acoustic playing and is emotional and is quite moving. The line, “No more toasts, just empty glasses” is near heart-breaking. The song then breaks into an almost traditional folk song, for just a few moments, but that adds so much.

Love ends majestic “Considerations” which is cinematic in its style and music. It is the perfect way to bring the album to a close. Stolt’s guitar is flawless and melodic. The introduction is dramatic, and it takes almost two minutes for the vocals to come into play. And it works. Stolt sounds almost exhausted. “Looking for answers, for questions unasked.” The song builds and builds until the final few moments. There is no other way the album could have ended.

The Flower Kings are helping in keeping prog rock alive and well. They produce a wonderful and glorious sound. While it is easy to compare them to Yes or older Genesis or Gentle Giant, that would do a disservice to The Flower Kings. They have their own style and sound, and Love continues to show just how great this band is.

SPILL FEATURE: IT’S TIME TO DO RIGHT, WORDS CANNOT BE WISER – A CONVERSATION WITH ROINE STOLT OF THE FLOWER KINGS

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