To Lesoir I became aware of it through a promo info. The Dutch band makes good art, post, prog-rock/pop, very melodic, very professional. The singer Maartje Meessen and Ingo Dassen (guitar) founded Lesoir in 2009. They were joined by Eleën Bartholomeus (vocals, guitar), Ingo Jetten on bass and Bob Heumen on drums. Mosaic was released in 2020 and is available here on vinyl.

I'll start with the highlights, because if I like an unknown band straight away, it can only be good. Song 2, “This is It”, Song 6, “Dystopia” without female vocals and Song 9, at 07:42 the “long player”, “Two Faces”. The title song “Mosaic” is varied, despite being 04:30 long. “This is it” is reminiscent of The Pineapple Thief and I briefly thought I'd put on the wrong album. Nevertheless the song is catchy and for me the best on the album, mainly because of its rock tone. “Somebody like You” is the only weak song, too mainstream for me with less emotion. Average. “The Geese” follows suit, not really my thing. “Measure of Things” draws me back again with its oriental feel, more art rock and good epic build-up, and there is a quiet conclusion at the end. Good song. “Dystopia” has its Pink Floyd elements, spoken text by George Orwell actually underlines the darkness of the topic, the music is almost a bit too cheerful for that. Still a highlight for me. “It's never Quiet” flows along, nice. But it doesn't tear me out of the album. “Mxi” - I would have liked a transition to the next song here, it starts quite rough after this quiet instrumental part. A thematic transition to “Two Faces” would have made it a real long-runner. “Two Faces” itself is a worthy last song to end the album. Neo-Prog in good style.

My verdict is mixed. The album is good, but didn't completely convince me. But it's enough to listen to the whole thing. I like the band and the music, but I find the older albums more interesting. Precisely because they are more independent, less slick and less mainstream. I can detect influences from Pink Floyd, The Pineapple Thief and Mostly Autum, without it being annoying. I don't hear The Gathering, though, because Lesoir sounds too independent and completely different for that. The vocals are good and varied, the rest is just as good and professional, there are no outliers. The album is easy to listen to in one go, there are no real low notes. The LP itself is well presented, only the inside cover is a bit tight and looks handmade. The sound quality and synchronization are flawless.

The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.