This album demonstrates quite an original approach.

Hugo Flores (not to be confused with Daniel Flores of Mind’s Eye!) is a prolific artist, and my review of his second Project Creation album ‘Dawn On Pyther’ appeared last year in Fireworks #32. Whereas that was a huge conceptual album that went on forever, this is a very focused album of gothic electronic and progressive rock, much more song-oriented, and consequently a very different proposition from his PC material.
Flores himself is responsible for all of the instrumentation here, except for fretless bass parts provided by Chris Brown. Vocals of the ethereal, gothic, rather operatic variety are provided by a new name to me from Sweden: Jessica Letho, though the more adventurous amongst the Fireworks readership may have heard her as a guest vocalist on ‘Dark Mind’ the third album by Beto Vázquez Infinity… Here her vocals remind me of a cross between Kate Bush (in her more haunting, experimental moments), Simone Simons and Floor Jansen. Now, I would normally lap up this sort of stuff, but I have not found repeated listens to ‘Poles’ as satisfying as I had expected. I have tried to nail the reasons for this, and have concluded that many of the tracks (e.g. ‘Factory Of Dreams’, ‘Stream Of Evil’ and ‘Generator Of Illusions’) are overly complex and impenetrable, whilst the style of many of the vocal arrangements become tiresome and disturbing: perhaps more a matter of form over substance and an artistic statement rather than an attempt to provide memorable melodies (for there are precious few here!).

Undoubtedly I am becoming harder to please within this genre, and some of you who – like me – normally enjoy such albums may find ‘Poles’ more to your liking. I therefore recommend that you try some of the more accessible (tuneful) pieces (e.g. ‘Air Powerplant’, ‘The Piano In The Sea’ and ‘Electric Boom’ – with its stirring guitar solo). It is also probable that those of you who are keener on ‘electronica’ and special effects than I am now will find more to amuse and satisfy your needs. I concede that the album demonstrates quite an original approach which combined with a first rate production does make one sit up and take notice. However, for me ‘Poles’ is not an album that will readily find its way into the CD player again, and in the final analysis I have to suggest that any prospective purchasers tread a little warily.

Paul Jerome Smith