Taylor's Universe - Evidence

So here we have the second album from 2013 for Robin (guitars, keyboards, bass, flute, percussion), and he has been joined again by Karsten Vogel (sax, clarinet), Klaus Thrane (drums) and Louise Nipper (gentle vocals on one number). But, he has also brought into the band for the first time both Claus Bøhling (guitars) and 
Thomas Thor Viderø Ulstrup (synthesizer). I have long since learned that Robin has an immensely broad musical palette, and I should never really be surprised at what I hear, but yet again I find myself nodding sagely and wondering just how he does it. What we have here is an album that in many ways is more restrained and immediate that many of his works, just four songs giving us 44 minutes of music. The gentle keyboards provide the foundation for Claus and Karsten to let loose when they feel the need. Such is Claus’s control and feel I did some searching on the web to discover a bit more about him, and was not surprised to find that he has been around for a large number of years, most notably in the power trio Hurdy Gurdy at the end of the Sixties (Donovan wrote the song “Hurdy Gurdy Man” for them, but after a disagreement on how it should sound he release it himself). He is fluid and dynamic, with plenty of attack and pace while also knowing how to be restrained and emotional.

There is a lot of space within this album, and a feeling of a timelessness as the listener gets taken away to a different world where there is nothing but the music. The only thing wrong with the album is that it is too damn short! The more I have played it the more I have enjoyed it, and though there are some elements of Oldfield, the guitar especially takes it to a different level. 31 albums down, and Robin shows no sign at all of slowing, I just wonder what the next one will be like as this is one of his very best.