Los Angels based progressive rock duo Circe Link & Christian Nesmith go all out with Arcana, an old school concept album with long form songs inspired by the five trump cards from a Tarot deck. Punkers of all ages will be running for the hills after reading a sentence like this, but stick around, because this record has something for everyone. All the hoopla about magic, fools and vintage means of transport aside, this is music that can stand on its own, cherry-picking elements from jazz, rock, psychedelic pop and the kind of pastoral folk that was championed by the Canterbury scene and early Genesis.
Circe Link's crystal clear multi-layered vocals comprise of a mix of Signe Toly Anderson, Michelle Phillips and Sandy Denny, giving her the ability to switch between moods or characters if the lyrics demand such a thing. Nesmith is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who can play pretty much anything. He only needed drummer Christopher Allis to handle the complicated, sometimes almost abstract rhythms he wanted to use, and he got Matt Brown for the keyboard solos in The Chariot.
