Long Earth - Towards The Sky - Progressive Voyages Review
Long Earth have been in existence for about aa decade, As they formed in their original incarnation in 2016, with Mike Baxter on Keyboards, Ronaldo McKim on Guitarcand David zmcLaclan - Bass they were fronted by Martin Haggarty originally however he decided to focus on his own musical development and left the group in 2024 after their An Ordinary Life album of 2024, his replacement is Glasgow based, Dutch singer songwriter Maaike Siegersist , she definitely adds some fresh colours and influences to the band.
This new album Towards The Sky marks her recording debut with the group, The album consists of a tracks 4anging from 5 plus minutes to an epic length The Astronomer which clock in at 11 :20 in length thecwhole thing lasts about 65 monutes in total.
The album starts with a lengthy instrumental Coda with strong guitar lines and a swirling synthesiser line that is repeated at various points within the track, here we also encounter the solid powerful drums of Kemny McCabe who replaced the departing Alex Smith.
After 1.54 secs we hear Maaike's first vocals she has a great voice, very clear with a good range of soft and louder, quite how she fares in a live environment is very open to question but suggestions say that she will fare very comfortably.
The song has different sections and undepinn8ng it all is the strong rhythm section playing along withbthe sweeping synthesiser line.
The whole song is really strong and sets a high bar for all that is to follow afterwards.it is a call to 3xpress your individuality.
Breathless is next This track begins with Church Organ type sounds which is actually veryv effective, there is a lotnof space in thecsound here everything sounds great, The song isxabout the beauty of the earthbound its fragility with only a very thin layer preserving life on earth. The chorus is very string and memorable as is the first guitar solon from Ronaldo McKim after the solo that wonderful chorus is repeated to great effect alongside a further guitar break to take the track to its conclusion.with pounding drums from Kenny., another splendid track. It 8s based upon reflections from Astronauts who have viewed the earth from space and noted both its Blue nature and its vulnerability which asks all to protect the fragile planet the best we can.
Artificial Child is up next this song is about artificial Intelligence and bothe the opportunities and possibly the dangers they pose to modern life as we know it as the world sits on the threshold of significant change once more, the song is written from the viewpoint of one who a computer scientist who is reflecting on his creation, the tone here is more reflective, the music follows suit too, with an almost identical sound to an old 80's hit ( I can't place it exactly but it sounds very familiar, I'm not saying they copied it but we're possibly influenced by it that's all. I really like the song not as much as Breathless but its still a great track.
Wanderlust is next this opens with some great acoustic guitar chords and more synthesiser lines, the song is gentler again, largely acoustic although drumscdo feature predominantly, the song is good and memorable it is about Maaike's journey from the Netherlands to Glasgow via London, In the song zMaaike speaks fondly of Glasgow abd how she feels accepted and comfortable there. It is a very warm song with great sentiments expressed.
Colours follows, This is a a love song, agreed a progressive rock love song, it is gentle in it opening section until at the 3:20 point a chugging guitar rhythm interacts with the synthesiser line and the song expands in scope with a synthesiser solo playing across the chugging guitar rhythm, it is very effective and memorable,a rather splendid song all told.
Monochrome is next, this is about nature and looking after things like the rainforest, As all are Interconnected, as we know from climate change and the wildfires currently affecting Canada France and Spain, How we look after the world has an impact on everyone and everything in life. The sound here is of a garder nature and tone, it is another hard hitting song i like it a lot.
First Casualty is about the astounding number of members of the press who have been killed in warfare, with the search for truth being the first casualty as propaganda and lies emerge, the lyrics paint a vivid picture of the horrors of war and the devestation suffered in the process, This is a vefy hard hitting track with lots ofvemotion in its duration, it is essentially a realistic and yet sad song about the cost of war.indo like the inagefy this song paints the picture with it is a longer song but nonetheless it's a very strong track.
The penultimate track is Moon and Mars which is about dreaming of space and also about the millionaires who want to get us there as they have the funds to turn dreams into a reality, the song points out that even that may not be enough for these folks, really what they need is a loving relationship, the song has a suitably climatic guitar solo from Renaldo the song ends wirg a quiet acoustic guitar motif.
The final song is The Astronomer This song reflects on the scientific developments that Gallileo made in the 16th century and how we owe much of our understanding of the universe to him, His tremendous inventions like the telescope and also to his sense of wonder of our place within all that, The song has a lengthy guitar solo in it alongside lush symphonic sounds and textures, it acts as a perfect distillation of what Long Earth are about as a band, The song is both graceful and gentle with layers of synthesisers It sounds really glorious and is a fine conclusion to what is certainly a most impressive album.
In summary this an an exceptionally good album. Which sets a very high bar for others to cross, if you like Symphonic Progressive Rock music, Then this one is very highly recommended indeed asit is simply armband wonderful in every way.
Info here:Towards the Sky | Long Earth https://share.google/IHm0yIW2YDGA54gWM
Author John Wenlock-Smith Tuesday 28th July 2026.