Circe Link and Christian Nesmith - Cosmologica (2021)

Classifying music in to genres is a funny thing. At its core, that action is anathema to me. Artists who are following their muse tend to dislike being pigeonholed and would rather think that each expression is unique. And I suppose it is. Yet we all know the blues when we hear it. Or country. Or jazz.

But what about Progressive Rock? For me, the best description of Prog is “classical music using rock instruments”, (a Circe Link quote). In classical all rules can be broken. Time signatures, key changes, tempo modulation, and dynamic range are all fair game. And so, too, is it with Prog. And because it is so free, it is the least genre-fied genre, and therefore capable of being the most honest and unique artistic expression.

That said, I have zero shame in paying direct tribute in these compositions to the artists that inspired them. You will hear nods to YES, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, ELP, Rush, and more. For instance, the drums on the outro of Assignment In Eternity were specifically composed in homage to the passing of Neil Peart.

The first song written and recorded was the title track, Cosmologica. And it was recorded years before the rest of the material, more as a lark and an exercise, as it was so different from the rest of the Circe Link catalog. However, with similar bits and bobs of ideas floating around in our back log for some time, and with the sequestration of COVID, Circe and I felt we should use the time indoors to follow the muse and see where it led.

It has led here. It is the most challenging project we have ever done and I am very proud of it. It is about as different as possible from anything we have ever done before and that has been the bulk of the inspiration. So be prepared.

Circe and I wrote and performed everything, except the organ solo on God From The Machine which was played by the incomparable Michael Sherwood. It was on our wedding day and it was the last time I ever saw him. It is with undying love that we dedicate this album to him. I miss you every day, my friend. - Christian Nesmith

The undefinable aural explosion herein is an exploration of two intrepid capsule bound entities isolated during the year 2020. Our journey into this musical realm of Progressive Rock and its limitless universe inspired like in kind, lyric and form. Far from the world of middle-earth conceptual content we strove with playful agnosticism to capture the larger questions and motifs of greater minds than ours, along with ours, such as Carl Sagan, Philip K Dick, Robert Heinlein, Albert Einstein and Virginia Woolf.

Under the expert direction of this vessel's captain, Christian Nesmith, who has masterfully created this sonic landscape, virtuosic in concept as well as execution in my judgement, we took an amazing journey - all while looking daily from our porthole onto a surreal world of spinning uncertainty and fear, as we hoped to see the face of the sun again.

It takes the bravery an artist, ne adventurer, to navigate towards realms where we can free ourselves into the possibilities of the unnameable noetic sea, to the place of knowing each other, and into the expansive void where somehow we are embraced in the souls ultimate belonging.

This trip has ended and we have finally landed. And having survived, we send this offering to you with our cosmic love. - Circe Link