"Dance Of The Souls" - Tony Patterson's "Defining Blue" sampler. Review by Alan Hewitt.

Well, Tony had been threatening me with this for quite some time and finally it has arrived, a small sample of what we can expect from his first solo album "Defining Blue" (great title, Tony!) which is to be released in the not too distant future.

Samplers are supposed to take the "best bits" of a project and promote them so what are we to make of "Dance Of The Souls"? Well, the title track opens the sampler with some fine Gabrielesque African styled percussion and a haunting keyboard before Tony's vocals kick in and by God if you thought he sounded like Gabriel in ReGenesis you should hear this it could almost be the man himself - I love it!

"Cynicity/Open These Eyes" follows, this is an eerie synth led piece which would not have been out of place on the soundtrack to Blade Runner before some persistent rhythms lead us off elsewhere into a territory that is uniquely Tony's own, I think. Certainly a thought provoking piece and one which has a lot of familiar echoes without sounding derivative, another excellent track.

"Where It All Began" opens with a brief duel between the keyboard and a lovely acoustic guitar and flute tune before Carrie Melbourne's Malaysian voices take us immediately back to "Passion" territory before the piano wins through and accompanies Tony's melancholy vocals in what I am sure is destined to be a favourite on the album, emotional and totally original!

"On The Air", well Tony is in a Gabriel-era Genesis band so why not cover a Gabriel track? "On The Air" has always been a favourite of mine, and obviously of Tony's too so here it is in all its rock'n'roll glory - 'nuff said really!

"Open These Eyes (Groove Mix)" well, special mixes and the like don't sit comfortably with me as a rule. However, there are exceptions to every rule and this is one of them I am glad to say! I genuinely love this version which is a lot heavier than its predecessor with some great rhythm guitar and keyboard work this will do nicely as a single, thank you!

So there you have it. If this is a sample of the album as a whole then I can’t wait to hear it and I think in all honesty that all fans of ReGenesis will be very surprised by this music but variety is the spice of life, isn't it so do your ears a favour and give "Defining Blue" a listen when it is released, I don't think you will be disappointed!

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