Scott's Song by Song #59: Galasphere 347 - The Syntax of Things

 

 Welcome to issue #59 of Scott’s Song By Song (#scottssongbysong).For more information about this series, click here: 

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Today, I’ll be taking a deep dive into the second album by multi-national prog band Galasphere 347, “The Syntax of Things”, which is set to be released on February 23, 2026.  This is the long-awaited follow up to 2018’s eponymous debut album. The band is something of a supergroup, currently consisting of 3 official members, and several guests, one of which was an official member on the first Galasphere 347 album.  

Here is the line-up with some of the other bands/artists/projects they’ve been associated with, and their home country.

- Stephen James Bennett (UK) / vocals, keyboards, guitars, Taurus pedals, lap steel, Gizmotron (Played with- LaHost, Henry Fool, The Fire Thieves, The Opium Cartel, No-Man [with Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness], The Tim Bowness Band, Clive Mitten and others)

- Ketil Vestrum Einarsen (Norway) / programming, flute (Played with: White Willow, The Opium Cartel, Jaga Jazzist, Wobbler, Pixie Ninja, Kaukasus, Weserbergland and others)

- Mattias Olsson (Sweden) / drums, electric & acoustic guitars (Played with Änglagård, White Willow, Pär Lindh, Pineforest Crunch, and others)

Guests:

- Jacob Holm-Lupo (Norway) / Staccato guitar & bass (2) (was a member of the band on the first album, White Willow, The Opium Cartel, Solo, and numerous other projects)

- Bjørn Riis (Norway)/ guitars (3,6,7) (Airbag, solo)

- John Jowitt (UK) / bass (3,5,6) (IQ, Arena, Jadis, John Wetton)

- Myke Clifford (UK) / sax (3) (Henry Fool)

- Pete Smith (unsure of nationality, but I suspect UK)  / bass & bass pedals (1,7) (Subway)

Phew!  That’s a lot of prog experience!  The debut consisted of three extended pieces, while this time around, there are seven tracks, ranging from 3:54 to 10:56 in length.

This album comes courtesy of Anne Claire Rallo of Bad Dog Promotions.  I receive no compensation, outside of the digital album.  As always, “I call it like I hear it”, and this is a cold listen.  Without further ado, let's check out the tunes!

Track 1 - Hiraeth Pt.1 (Cronus) (3:54)

I have noticed that all of the tracks on the album have a subtitle of a Greek deity.  Cronus was the leader of the Titans, son of Gaia and Uranus.  He overthrew his father, swallowed his children (Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, but didn’t swallow Zeus), but was himself overthrown by Zeus when his mother helped deceive Cronus, by giving him a stone to swallow instead of Zeus.  Greek mythology is weird!  The word Hiraeth is a Welsh word denoting a deep sense of longing.  So, let’s see what all of this means in the song, hopefully.

The song begins with rhythmic percussive sounds and effects, before the band launches into an odd-metered groove. The vocals begin after one minute. Bennett is known for using vintage analog synths, which he has put to good use here.  The overall sound is one of vintage sounds mixing with new sounds.  Bennett’s voice is pleasant and works well in the music, if a little low in the mix.  Olsson has some nice drum fills as we move through the song.  Slightly more than halfway through, the tempo changes to a half-time 4-4 feel.  The whole song feels very “organic”.  It ends with warm synth chords.  While I do feel the sense of longing which reflects the title of the song, I am not sure what it all has to do with Cronus, but it makes for a nice opening track!

Track 2 - Life as an Architect (Hestia) (9:57)

Hestia is the virgin Greek goddess of hearth, home and family.  

Olsson kicks this off with a snare drum fill and we are off and running!  Big synth sounds, mellotron and massive drum fills make the intro.  They lock into a groove shortly thereafter, while the synth keeps the spotlight.  Once again, I wish the vocals were a little higher in the mix, but he is singing about a woman who “Lives her life as an architect”, building a wonderful life for her family.  The symbolism of Hestia is clear in this one to me.  This is a very gentle song, thus far.  Just before 3:30, he sings “I look inside her silent crying eyes”, then the tonality of the song takes a darker turn.  There is a cool pulsating synth sound in this section.  At around 4:14, a distorted electric guitar melody enters the soundscape.  At around 4:50 the tempo doubletimes.  The synth sound has a bit of a “wobble” to it. Fantastic drum fill at 5:13.  I love the giant  mellotron sound that hits at 5:20.  The guitar solo that accompanies it is simple but effective.  Things calm back down at 6:00.  I believe this is where Jacob Holm-Lupo provides the "staccato guitar”.  By seven minutes, the synth takes the lead over a bed of mellotrons, then we hear a flute solo from Ketil Vestrum Einarsen . This one is very retro, indeed but in a good way!  I love it!  The flute solo is fantastic!  It ends the track unaccompanied, excepting a few footsteps at the very end.  Great track!

Track 3 - Broken Bones (Eris) (10:57)

Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord.  

Vibrato electric piano and a gentle synth line starts us off here.  Different keyboards take over with a new melody.  At the one minute mark, some distant spoken words are added, and they become clearer by 1:20, when it says “With me, you could’ve been another person”. The other players kick in with big accents following that.  They lock into a groove at around 1:55. The first verse starts shortly thereafter. Myke Cliffor’s sax is a prominent part of this track.  The guitar and sax play related melodies as we approach 4 minutes.  At around 4:30, a solo piano part takes over, and we begin a new phase of the song.  Bjørn Riis takes a nice melodic solo with minimal accompaniment.  After the 7 minute mark, the synths calmly take back over. At 8 minutes the guitar returns, with several effects on it. Or, actually, that might be the sax with effects, hard to tell.  Olsson has a cool drum beat at around 9 minutes and the music becomes more intense. This is beginning to take on a VDGG vibe as the track comes to a close.  This is a  pretty interesting track that takes the listener through different moods.  I like it!

Track 4 - Nighthawks (Nyx) (6:36)

Nyx is the primordial Greek goddess of the night.

This one fades in slowly with mysterious synth sounds. Just after one minute, a piano chord leads the vocals in.  The tempo is slow and gentle.  Bennett is sort of half singing-half talking.  At around 3 minutes a synth joins the piano with string-like sounds. As the song progresses he is singing about the night sky.   The song remains peaceful throughout, but is delivered in a very engaging manner.  Well-done.

Track 5 - Persephone (Kore) (5:57)

Kore is the Greek word for “maiden” and is often used to describe ancient Greek statues of young women, Persephone in particular, who is the goddess of spring growth, as well as the underworld–she spends 6 months a year in the world, and the other 6 in the underworld.

This one kicks right in with bass, drums and synth, with a fusion feel. At 1 minute there is briefly a part where the drums drop out and the bass, played by John Jowitt,  is featured. There is a key change just before the vocals begin the first verse with keyboard accompaniment.   Some guitars join the mix as well.  Mellotron enters before 2 minutes.  A Syncopated drumbeat enters on the next verse. Just after 3 minutes a sweeping sound comes in and the beat changes.  We have a synth solo at around 4:40, followed by a guitar solo.  This part has a Pink Floyd vibe to me.  I love the big bass note on the synth at 5:30.  The song just kind of ends, when it feels like it was really just getting going.  Pretty good, but I would have liked for it to develop more.

Track 6 - the syntax of things [intentionally lowercase] (Athena) (10:31)

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, and handicrafts. 

Not sure why, but this song title seems to be left lowercase intentionally.  The title track begins with a rhythmic synth pattern with a staccato tone and some phasing.  Before long, a mellotron joins in.  This is very old school synth style building a soundscape.   At around 1:40, things smooth out and get floaty sounding.  The verse begins with this feeling.   At around 2:40 a beat kicks in and the tempo increases. The drumming on this is partially on electronic drums or a drum machine.  The flute returns on this track.  Once again, I wish the vocals were a little higher in the mix, as they are hard to hear at times.  Following the halfway mark of the song, more old school synths and organ take over.  This almost sounds like a lost prog album from the early 70s.  There is a lot of synth alchemy happening.  Before 7 minutes, a steady drumbeat kicks in and provides forward motion.  Just before 8 minutes, Bjørn Riis returns with another fine guitar solo.  Mellotron kicks back in hard at around the 9 minute point.  Electronic percussion and various keyboards bring us to a calm close of the track.  This was a real ride of a song, and almost a retro-time machine.  Pretty cool track.

Track 7 - Hiraeth Part 2 (Aion) (7:40)

Aion is a Hellenistic deity associated with time.  

So, here we are at the other bookend part of the album. This kicks right in with full instrumentation at a moderate tempo. After some Bjørn Riis leads, some fat synth tones take over.  The verse begins about 1:30.  Slide guitar provides a countermelody to the vocals.The rhythm changes at a little after 3 minutes.  A drumbeat with lots of delay drives the rhythm, and there is a slide guitar solo. Halfway through the solo, the rhythm goes half-time.  We have returned to Floydian territory again, and a HUGE mellotron joins in. This is glorious.Things quiet down at around 6:20.  There is a long silence, then a bit of overlapping spoken words in the final seconds.  Great track!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

This album is so retro, it sounds like it was a lost 70s album at times.  Bennett is certainly the driving force behind it.  His bandmates and guest musicians definitely bring his vision to life.  While none of the information I have explicitly says it, I suspect that this could have been recorded to analog tape.  My main issue is that the vocals sometimes were buried in the mix to my ears.  But still, anyone who enjoys retro early 70s analog prog rock should definitely check it out!  I’m giving it 4.25 out of 5 stars, which converts to 85%.

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Prog On!

Scott

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LINKS FOR LISTENING (and buying):

As the release of this album is still a month away, there aren’t a lot of links.  

There is a wonderful teaser video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBl8Uji0fKE

And here is the Bandcamp page where you can hear the complete opening track and pre-order the album.

https://galasphere347.bandcamp.com/album/the-syntax-of-things