New Earth Farmers - The Sky From The Underground (2024)

If one were to apply a progressive rock brush stroke to a folky-rootsy countrified arrangement & distill it in biting notes, guitar clarity & vocal unity with edginess you’d find New Earth Farmers. Yes, that’s what I’m hearing – a controlled application of progressive rock just a pinch & nothing overloaded or intense. It has a delicate balance of charm when applied to the melodies. The guitar has progressive rock gutsiness surrounded by rootsy support rather than bombastic underpinnings.

There isn’t the pomposity of intricate playing that was the weight that brought down many prog-rockers. After all, rock n’ roll isn’t supposed to be symphony elite but a groove. New Earth Farmers seem to understand this. And some are veterans of the art-rock genre.

This LP – they’ve applied what they’ve learned & came up with an impressive hybrid. The CD art is a little spacey but don’t be fooled. The music has its well-fertilized soil & the musical crossbreeding is subtlety approached. Not as spacey & strange as Tony Carey’s Planet P Project years ago with “Pink World” – but it’s equally impressive in the 9 clouds of music that hover in The Sky From The Underground.

As close as they come to a silky countrified guitar song is the beautiful George Harrison cover “Behind That Locked Door,” with vocals from Paul Knowles & Nicole Storto & a shimmering pedal steel by Dave Zirbel.
This sounds like a bad idea on paper, but these musicians have locked into an oral transmission that’s stunning in spots – while not crazily performed. The idea develops into a well-cultivated genre. Think The Proclaimers mixed with something weird like Rain Tree Crow. There is melody & well-articulated vocals mixed with a conglomeration of elusive crossbred sounds.

Not everything will resonate with the aficionado of Americana music. But anyone with an ear for originality will transfix on this musical chemistry. So long as they don’t push the envelope because this is the kind of music that can get away & become a little overblown like a late-career Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Right now, it’s juggling the balls of Fairport Convention, The Alarm, INXS & The Fixx at their best.