Soft Machine has had probably one of the most convoluted membership histories of any band, but there is no doubt in my mind that the current line-up has continued to keep the name alive and are directly linked to the original band. Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean were both in the band in the Sixties, and it was they who formed Soft Ware in 1999, alongside former Soft Machine drummer John Marshall plus Keith Tippett, who had played with Dean at the turn of the Seventies. After a few line-up changes, Hopper, Dean and Marshall invited ex-Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge into the fold, at which point the name changed to Soft Machine Legacy. Sadly, Dean passed away not long afterwards, and he was replaced by Theo Travis (ex-Gong), while the death of Hugh Hopper led to another ex-Soft joining the band, Roy Babbington. Marshall and Travis are still there today, while Babbington and Marshall have since passed away and been replaced by Fred Thelonious Baker and Asaf Sirkis. This does mean that the current band contains just one member of the group who was with them in the Seventies, but they can demonstrate a consistent relationship, and if anyone was ever in doubt as to whether they are the real deal, just listen to this.
It is nice to see them reverting back to the album naming convention they followed from 1969 to 1973 when they released some of their most compelling works, but it is not just the name on the cover or the artwork (which ties in with ‘Seven’), but very much in the music which is provided here. The new members of the band have fitted in perfectly, with Asaf Sirkis being one of the most dynamic and exciting drummers around, knowing when the time is right to be bombastic, playing with multiple sticks to get different cymbal sounds, or when not to play at all, contributing both space and melody alongside the rhythm. Fred Baker has a long relationship with the Canterbury scene (taking over from Hugh Hopper in In Cahoots, for example) and has a deft touch on fretless bass, providing warmth and underpinning the lead melodies of Marshall and Travis. The latter is a multi-instrumentalist, and here he can be found providing saxophones, flutes, duduk, Mellotron, pianos, electronics meaning the overall sound of the band can be different from track to track, while Etheridge may be in his seventies (and incidentally is the longest serving Soft in the band’s history) but shows age is not slowing him down as he is still a master.
The final track will be a surprise to many, as it features none other than Softs founder member Daevid Allen, who passed away in 2015. It was recorded when Travis was in Gong, who then composed “Daevid's Special Cuppa” to include it and the result is a. hypnotic number quite unlike anything else on the album as it a psychedelic tribal set piece with soprano sax, guitar and duduk (a haunting Armenian traditional wooden flute like instrument). The band are touring constantly, and this album clearly shows just how many hours they have spent together as it is incredibly cohesive, at times showing them at their most boisterous while at others it is sheer beauty.
