Well-crafted prog/pop hybrid!
"Touch the Sky" is highly accessible and well-crafted album with one foot in the pop world and another in the prog world. Supernal Endgame masterfully combines pop song structures, accessible, hook-laden pieces with real progressive credibility. These could have been boring songs in other hands, but with Supernal Endgame they gently unfold to reveal rich arrangements, superb playing and lots of great soloing. In fact, it took me a few listens to really grok how much was really going on. It is an uncommon talent that can incorporate so much energy... guitar, violin, vocal harmonies and keyboards in so many layers... without it coming across as rococo or distracting, but "Touch" abounds with this kind of richness. There is a spirit of love suffusing the music, and I'm not just talking about the inspirational lyrics. Although most of the songs tend to be formulaic in structure, they are executed with such care and attention that they rise far above initial expectations.
