Marco Glühmann - a fragile present - 2024
“... solo album by the singer of sylvan ...”
intro
These are good times for the fans of the German band Sylvan. After the beautiful album by Violent Jasper, the project of Sylvan members Volker Söhl (keyboards) and Johnny Beck (guitars), the solo album "A Fragile Present" by Sylvan vocalist Marco Glühmann has now been released on the Gentle Art Of Music label. And I haven't even mentioned Sylvan's upcoming live album, which will be released next month. Marco Glühmann composed most of the songs in a period of just a few months. However, two compositions are from writing sessions in 2010. According to Glühmann, these two songs are a kind of window into his musical past. The rest of the songs are written with his emotions as a guide. It has therefore become a very personal album. In addition to the cooperation of Johnny Beck his Sylvan mate on guitar, he has also received the cooperation of the core of the band RPWL (Kalle Wallner, Yogi Lang, Markus Grützner). Last but not least, he also received the cooperation of Steve Rothery (Marillion) and Billy Sherwood (Yes), each of whom contributed to one of the songs.
According to Marco Glühmann; "The album title "A Fragile Present" reflects the fragility of the 'gift of life' or the 'transient present', whether in a personal or global context. It's not a concept album, but the songs are nevertheless connected in terms of content, as this fragility and fear of loss accompanied me in the creative process."
line-up
Marco Glühmann - vocals, keyboards, guitars; Steve Rothery (Marillion) - guitar on 'My Eyes Are Wide Open'; Billy Sherwood (Yes) - choir on 'Hear Our Voice'; Kalle Wallner (RPWL) - guitars, bass; Johny Beck (Sylvan) - guitars; Yogi Lang (RPWL) - keyboards; Markus Grützner (RPWL) - bass; Tommy Eberhardt - drums
review
The album opens with the song "Hear Our Voice". This is the song that Billy Sherwood collaborated on. He provided the choirs, which you can hear during the choruses and which really take the spotlight at the end of the song. A nice opener that somewhat reflects the character of the album. The Sylvan influences sometimes seep through, especially with the passionate vocals that we are used to from Marco Glühmann. But the music on this fine album is a little more down to earth and more Rock oriented. The next song "Never Say Goodbye" generally has a slightly more Rock-oriented vibe, especially in the opening. But the delicate and passionate vocals and guitar work naturally have parallels with Sylvan's music.
"Reach Out" is originally a song from 2010. A wonderful song with beautiful melodies and choruses. I also really like the beautiful keyboard orchestrations. At the end of the song you even hear a small reference to the music of Yes through the Melotron strings. And what can you say about Marco's vocals, he has been one of my favorite vocalists in the Prog scene for years. And he is completely in his element with his own compositions. You can also hear the references to Sylvan's vocal singing style in the next song "Faceless". Vocals sung with full dedication and passion. A wonderful song. What is striking is the shorter duration of the songs on this album. The slow opening "Look At Me Now" has beautiful delicate vocals and keyboard orchestrations that are more classically oriented. The next song "At Home" is also impressive. It is a beautiful ballad with a delicate musical accompaniment by piano, acoustic guitars and classically oriented keyboard orchestrations. The vocals are delicate and sung with passion. A beautiful moment of rest on this album.
The strumming guitars in the opening of the song "For A While" strongly remind me of a song from Marillion's "Holidays In Eden" album. It may be a coincidence, but every now and then you come across things like this. It is a short song with quietly sung vocals and a catchy chorus. The next song "Black The Shades Out" is the second song from the composing sessions in 2010. It has heavily distorted vocal lines and some more Rock influences. “One Last Hope” is more my thing. The effects on the voice are less here and the quiet, clean vocals are beautiful and have beautiful melody lines.
The song "Life Is Much Too Short" is also a beautiful song. The instrumentation is never overpowering, but that actually applies to the entire album. The composition is played so that Marco's voice is given enough space. And the mix and mastering is of course in good hands with Yogi Lang (RPWL). This last part of the album is very strong by the way. The last two tracks in particular are very worthwhile. In "Running Out Of Time" there are again some Sylvan influences in the vocal parts and we can enjoy beautiful guitar parts. The song that closes this album with is one of the highlights of this album. In "My Eyes Are Wide Open" in which Marco imagine himself and his son, the lyrics that are full of emotion are presented with great passion. The melody lines are also very beautiful. Everything is further enhanced by the contribution of Steven Rothery (Marillion). The master once again shows how to play a guitar solo full of passion.
conclusion
With "A Fragile Present" Marco Glühmann has created a convincing solo album. You can leave passionate singing to Marco. You hear beautiful vocal melodies and refrains on this album. Of course there are some Sylvan similarities, but in general the songs have less progressive rock influences and more (Art) Rock and Pop influences. The songs are also on the short side. The longer songs (around 5 minutes) are often the better songs. But that is of course the personal taste of your reviewer. It's a good album and a must buy for the Sylvan fan. And more great things await you because the concert that Sylvan gave together with RPWL in "de Boerderij" in Zoetermeer was recorded and filmed. That was an evening to remember. The recordings of the RPWL concert have already appeared on their live document "True Live Crime". If you already have these recordings at home, I can already assure you that the recordings of the Sylvan concert are of the same high quality. These will be released next month under the name "Back To Live". But in the meantime we can enjoy "A Fragile Present", a convincing solo album by Sylvan vocalist Marco Glühmann.