TOUCHSTONE – Lights From The Sky (2016-2017)

England’s TOUCHSTONE, one of this blog’s crossover-prog favorites, makes a return to the studio with a new line-up and a new CD titled “Lights From The Sky“.
New to the band are lead vocalist Aggie Figurska and keyboard player Liam Holmes. Additionally, returning to Touchstone are Adam Hodgson (guitars), Henry Rogers (drums) and Paul Moorghen (bass).

However, with “Lights From The Sky” musically not much has changed for Touchstone. They still play melodic progressive rock touched with a bit of a metal edge.
The lead vocals and vocal arrangements have also been a prominent feature. New vocalist Aggie has a strong melodic, often soaring voice, easily carrying the melody of any song. The arrangements, as you would expect, involve the integration and cooperation of each instrument.
The expectation of flashy guitar solos are satisfied, but equally present and significant are the drum and bass lines, while Holmes adds the necessary synth color.

As for the songs, there are four: ‘Fear’, ‘Tangled Lines’, and the title track, which is in two versions, English and Polish, the latter destined to that country fans where the band is really popular and which sounds pretty different to the English version.
‘Lights From The Sky’, in either version, lines more towards the melodic heavy rock side, with the whole song developing with subtle progression led by the vocals.

‘Fear’ has something of a more upbeat, even bouncy, poppy commercial accessibility, and features a Holmes synth / keyboard solo to die for.
‘Tangled Lines’ arrives with brisk riffage in the lead and a simply heavier feeling, with Touchstone drawing from their classic melodic metal roots.
If you buy the album at the band’s website, you get three additional tracks from previous Touchstone era, one remixed and two captured live with a great sound quality.

“Lights From The Sky” is a well-rounded disc of Touchstone’s melodic progressive heavy rock, and a fine re-introduction to the band and it’s new members.
A very solid foretaste of the upcoming new full-length album from this stupendous British act.

01 – Lights From The Sky
02 – Fear
03 – Tangled Lines
04 – Lights From The Sky (Polish Version)
05 – Zinomorph (Radio Mix)
06 – Strange Days (Live)
07 – Mad World (Live)

Aggie Figurska – vocals
Adam Hodgson – guitars, SFX, backing vocals
Paul Moorghen – bass, backing vocals
Henry Rogers – drums, percussion
Liam Holmes – keyboards
Kim Seviour – vocals on 5,6,7
Rob Cuttingham – vocals, keyboards on 5,6,7

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