NAD SYLVAN – Spiritus Mundi [Digipak +2] (2021)

“Spiritus Mundi” is the title of NAD SYLVAN‘s new album, a quite unique musician who has worked with Steve Hackett and has recorded a series of fantastic solo albums. This Sylvan’s latest work is filled with musical interpretations of the poetry of William Butler Yeats, possibly the foremost Irish literary figure of the 20th century.
Nad is joined by some famous musicians on this album, namely Tony Levin and Jonas Reingold on bass and Marko DeMaio (The Flower Kings) on drums with Steve Hackett also featuring. The bulk of the lyrics are taken verbatim from Yeats’s poems, apart from the first bonus track, You Have Got To Find A Way, that has Sylvan’s own lyrics.
This approach has left the music room to breath and allows the beauty of the words to shine through clearly with the music clearly supporting and enhancing the impact of the words. It’s progressive music with attention to detail, as it used to be in the golden days of the genre.

Stylistically, it’s is a step forward from some of the more traditional prog stylings of his previous solo albums, taking a more orchestrated / melodic approach, and making use of guitarist Andrew Laitres voice to support and supplement the familiar Sylvan tones.
That said, the music is no less inventive and adds depths with repeated listening and exploring. The orchestral opening of “The Second Coming,” is supplemented by a distorted voice reciting Yeats’ words, before the track strips to a strummed acoustic guitar, accompanying the familiar Sylvan tones.

With Sylvan and Laitres covering many of the instruments, guest spots from familiar names such as Tony Levin, Jonas Reingold and Steve Hackett add different colors, along with The Flower Kings’ Mirkko De Malo joining on drums on various tracks.

Fans of Sylvan won’t need to be told how versatile and full of feeling his vocals are. If you take a track like “Sailing to Byzantium,” Yeats’ paean to an old man’s metaphorical journey towards his own vision of paradise, the shifts and twists in the vocal and melodic styles take you on the journey in a way that absolutely complements the lyrical themes, without playing safe. It’s a great balance of interesting music and lyrics with depths of meaning.
The album has some wonderful overblown moments, nicely offset by more voice/ acoustic focused tracks such as “Cap and Bells” and “The Realists.”

“The Stolen Child” tell the story of a child lured away by faeries. This track is a great example of how the words lend themselves to the format, moving as they do with the cadence of a ballad, complete with a chorus like refrain.
“To An Isle In The Water” is a poem which has been covered by various bands acts already – but not like this! This song has a fantastic vocal soundscape, built on a bed of acoustic guitars and vibes.

The mood lifts in “The Hawk”, one of the album highlights whose buoyant energy is simply infectious. Closer “The Fisherman” brings full ensemble support to its acoustic foundation along with an excellent slide guitar solo from Neil Whitford.

There are 2 bonus tracks on this Digipak version. “You’ve Got To Find A Way” was written by Sylvan, and isn’t a Yeats lyric. It’s a positive and upbeat anthem, encouraging the listener to follow their path. In these unusual times, it’s an uplifting track, with a nice rhythm section groove.
The final bonus cut, “To A Child Dancing In The Wind,” is a beautiful piece with Nad’s “boss”, Steve Hackett, on 12 string guitar. Once again, this track features the complementary vocal styles of Sylvan and Laitres, interacting in a Gabriel / Collins style, with Nad’s baritone offset by a mid section focused on Andrew’s higher tones.

Throughout the album, the arrangements are careful to not let the accompanying musicians overwhelm the potency of the lyrics and the steel and nylon guitar strings.
Sylvan has perhaps never sounded better, both in his lead vocals but also with the attention to detail in the accompanying harmonies and little touches at the back of the mix. While the ringing of acoustic guitars coupled with his role in Steve Hackett’s band will inevitably conjure comparisons to Nursery Cryme-era Genesis, there’s plenty of nods to ’70s prog as well.
“Spiritus Mundi” proves itself to be a marvelous collaboration between Sylvan, Laitres and Yeats, offering a new voice for each of them.
Highly Recommended

01 – The Second Coming
02 – Sailing to Byzantium
03 – Cap and Bells
04 – The Realists
05 – The Stolen Child
06 – To an Isle in the Water
07 – The Hawk
08 – The Witch and the Mermaid
09 – The Fisherman
BONUS TRACKS:
10 – You’ve Got to Find a Way
11 – To a Child Dancing in the Wind

Nad Sylvan – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keys
Andrew Laitres – guitar, vocals
with:
Steve Hackett – guitar (11)
Tony Levin – bass (1,2,3,10)
Jonas Reingold – bass (7)
Mirkko De Maio – drums (1,3,7,10)
Neil Whitford – guitar (7,9)
Steve Piggot – guitar (9)
Kiwi Te Kanna – wind instruments (6,8)

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