Chimpan A’s ‘The Empathy Machine’ was an interesting album. Its songs took on the kind of lengths that would normally be associated with prog rock, but its sounds were far more pop oriented. The best tracks blended layers of synth with perfectly pitched melodic vocals, straddling the musical gulf between pop, AOR and electronica, almost in a way that pre-empted Alex Lifeson’s commercial sounds on the Envy of None debut, released just a few years later.
Those track lengths were clearly an overspill from multi-instrumentalist Robert Reed’s previous musical interests (he’s long been a familiar face on the prog scene due to his work with Magenta), but moving forward, the band’s follow up release finds them deliberately scaling things back, moving much closer to the adult pop market. Ahead of a planned album, ‘M.I.A., Vol. 1’ – which, according to the band, is very much an old fashioned two-sided affair, with one side devoted to shorter, more accessible pieces – this double whammy featuring a self-penned pop-rocker alongside a cover tune that should be familiar to all of their potential fans, definitely showcases a much more commercial Chimpan A.
The self penned ‘Wolves’ opens with a bright sounding, unashamedly 80s keyboard riff, but then slides effortlessly into a pop/rock blend that feels a little less period specific. The clean tones of the vocal, along with the perfect production values, sound very much like the band are paying homage to Patrick Leonard’s Toy Matinee/Third Matinee, whilst the arrangement also offers the occasional nod to ‘So’ era Peter Gabriel (understandable, given this track’s pairing here) and even the later, warmer sounding material from Howard Jones. The perfectly formed arrangement allows featured vocalists Steve Balsalmo and Christina Booth to bounce melodies off each other, at times almost as if in a call and response style, and even though the vocal performances share a little more bombast, there’s nothing within that could easily be pigeonholed under “prog”. The adult pop leanings really come into their own during the strongest musical flourishes, though, with parts of the hugely melodic tune hinting at a love for ‘Seeds of Love’ era Tears For Fears and ‘Milliontown’ era Frost*. With the unexpected arrival of a hard struck bass drawing heavily on past works by Guy Pratt, any feelings that this tune sometimes sounds like a relation to Third Matinee certainly aren’t that wide of the mark.
‘Wolves’ is joined by an equally melodic take on Peter Gabriel’s beautiful ‘Here Comes The Flood’. Naturally, the full band arrangement doesn’t capture the fragility of Gabriel’s stripped down voice/piano recording from ‘Shaking The Tree’, but it manages to scale back a little of the bombast of the 1977 version. By choosing to replay the core melody on something with a Fender Rhodes tone, the performance immediately pulls at the heartstrings of those who love all things retro. Steve’s hushed vocal approaches Peter’s lyric with reverence, whilst a thin and almost haunting vocal from Kirstie Roberts really amplifies the sadness within the melody. If anything stands out beyond the keys here, though, its the lead guitar, which occasionally rises between the vocal, sharing soaring tones that colour the track with more of a classic rock feel, and a couple of intermissions where mechanical beats remind the listener that Chimpan A have a vested interest in all things electronica. In terms of breathing new life into an old classic, this is really effective. The Peter Gabriel fanboys mightn’t like it…but for the more open minded rock fan, there’s a lot here to love.
Since ‘The Empathy Machine’ was let out into the wild during lockdown when most people had more pressing things to think about, it never got a fair crack of the promotional whip. They’ve returned with something even stronger; ‘Wolves’ is very much the kind of track that deserves to break Chimpan A with a more mainstream audience and also connect with people who probably missed them the first time around. Coupled with a loving tribute to the legendary Peter Gabriel, it gives potential fans a really accessible entry point into a finely crafted musical world. Try and ignore the rather silly band name, and come in with an open ear. You won’t regret it.
April 2025