John Wesley is a respected musician who has developed his talents over the course of seven enigmatic solo albums as well as working with Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Sound of Contact and BigElf, all of which has seen him become well-known within the progressive community. ‘a way you’ll never be’ is John’s eight album and it once again sees him exploring and augmenting his influences to create a modern take on the classic progressive rock of the seventies that so inspired him. A ten track album that explores a number of moods and styles, ‘a way you’ll never be’ is a beautifully produced, elegant piece of work that demonstrates John’s talents fully and, for fans of the format, a gorgeous vinyl edition features three sides of music and an etching on the fourth side, making this an album that collectors will want to seek out upon release.
The album opens with the wired riff of ‘by the light of the sun’ which sees John and his band channelling a mix of Porcupine Tree, Queen and Tool as a stuttering riff and Mark Prator’s nitro-powered drums underpin’ John’s strident vocal. Like Porcupine Tree who regularly launched into the album’s with a certain vigour (just check out ‘blackest eyes’ the blistering opener to ‘In absentia’), John Wesley knows the benefit of grabbing the listener by the scruff of the neck and dragging them into his world, and as the song progresses, so we’re treated to some truly apocalyptic guitar work, swathed in reverb and heavily influenced by the likes of Jeff Beck. The title track slows the pace and the beautiful, phased riff recalls the latter-day psychedelia of Soundgarden crossed with the dark prog of Opeth. At the heart of it all are the twin peaks of John’s rich, melodic vocals and the exceptional guitar work with which John made his name. His ability to convey an emotion with a single solo could be compared to David Gilmour and here the emphasis is very much on feel rather than simply on how many notes can be used to fill a space. Moreover, as the song spreads comfortably into its near eight-minute run time, so John and his band explore new areas even drifting into art rock territory as new sounds and textures are woven into the framework of the song. Dreamy, somnolent and elegant are all words that could be used to describe ‘to outrun the light’, the album’s most obviously Floyd-esque cut. Another lengthy piece, there’s a darkness and intelligence here that draws upon the literary, yet world-weary work of Roger Waters. In contrast, ‘the revolutionist’ is a short, punchy number with a jazz influence and surprising shifts that sees the music go through a number of contortions before arriving at its drawn-out, exhilarating conclusion. ‘Nada’ returns to that Pink Floyd vibe, contrasting dark lyrics with honeyed harmonies and stately solos, just going to show that you don’t need a heavy riff to bite.
A track that seems to slowly rise out of the quiet haze of the early morning ‘the silence in coffee’ features a sparse arrangement with just guitar and John’s echoing voice weaving a dense atmosphere of heartbreak that sounds how I always imagined U2 should sound. One of only two songs that sit under five minutes in length, ‘Unsafe space’ is a beautiful piece of music that draws a line between the elegance of Pink Floyd and the jazz-infused genius of Jeff Beck. An instrumental, it showcases some of the album’s best guitar work and it’s easy to lose yourself amidst Sean Malone’s prowling bass lines and John’s epic fretwork. Perhaps the album’s most overt nod to Porcupine Tree, the growling guitar intro of ‘sun.a.rose’ leads into a juddering track filled with menace and taut riffing. In somewhat contrary fashion, ‘epic’ is not an over-long behemoth, but a dark rocker that recalls nothing so much as the poisoned atmospherics of Alice in Chains’ ‘Facelift’ and the twisted rage of Tool. The album concludes with ‘pointless endeavours’ which segues from its predecessor and continues the dark musical themes established there. John’s vocal here is shot through with emotion and his performance, as it is across the album, is quite outstanding. It’s a fine closer to the album and it leaves you very much wanting to explore the dark passages and looming shadows of the album once again.
John Wesley is a superlative musician and ‘a way you’ll never be’ is a testament to his skills. What marks the album out, however, is that John embraces no mere desire to simply revisit the progressive past and the album draws from a variety of sources, including a surprising number of nods to the alternative rock of the early nineties. The result is an album that is elegant, heavy when it needs to be, and full of emotion. Fans of Porcupine Tree, unsurprisingly, will want to explore this epic, but John has a sound that is all his own and I’d be surprised if the record does not find its way into any number of end of year lists. Here there is depth, melody, power and passion and, with time, it will undoubtedly become clear that ‘a way you’ll never be’ is a very fine album indeed. 9
