HFMC are back with their fifth album, their second with just the abbreviation HFMC on the cover, with yet again the same line-up of Hasse Fröberg (lead vocals, guitars). Anton Lindsjö (lead guitar, acoustic guitars, backing vocals), Kjell Haraldsson (grand piano, keyboards, backing vocals), Thomas Thomsson (bass, backing vocals) and Ola Strandberg (drums, acoustic guitar, backing vocals). It is certainly no mean feat to keep the same five musicians together over the course of so many albums, especially when the band leader is mostly preoccupied with some outfit called The Flower Kings. Actually, it is remarkable that HFMC have been able to work so much together given just how active The Flower Kings are, but given Roine somehow always manages to find time for other projects perhaps it is not quite that surprising.
One of the major failing of The Flower Kings over the years is the seeming inability to self-edit, and with three lengthy songs we find the latest HFMC release is 70 minutes in length, so pushing the boundaries of a standard CD (long gone are the days when albums would fit on one side of a TDK-90. If you don’t know what one of those is then I now feel very old), and while this never drifts as much as some of their releases, there are certainly times when the attention wanders. They are truly crossover in that we get plenty of nice melodies which would not sound out of place in more commercial settings, while they move happily between genres such as folk and symphonic. “Other Eyes” is one of the longest songs on the album, and provides one of the most delicate and enjoyable passages when Hasse is accompanied by acoustic 12-string, and it allows him to demonstrate just why he is so highly regarded. This may not be a classic prog album, but it is certainly enjoyable, with some nice keyboard sounds being utilised, yet there is a feeling that there are times when it is somewhat lightweight and could have done with more punch. Not exactly essential, this is a nice release all the same.
