"Islands", the 14th album of the Flower Kings, is already the sixth double-decker of the Swedish prog formation - and according to band mastermind Roine Stolt this is completely unintentional. As he explains in the interview, the ambiguous title was created on a trip to Africa.
The Flower Kings have been around for a quarter of a century. If you consider that band boss, singer and guitarist Roine Stolt also has or had his nimble fingers in various other projects such as Kaipa, Transatlantic, The Tangent or The Sea Within, 14 studio albums in this period are a remarkable number, even if he obviously can draw from a veritable cornucopia of musical ideas. Despite the Corona crisis, the slag from Uppsala, Sweden, is "doing brilliantly", as he emphasizes during the phone call: "So why should I cut back when I enjoy being in the studio almost every day and working on new ideas?
It's not easy getting Roine Stolt on the phone. The busy 63-year-old is too busy with his various bands and projects. Most recently he recorded new pieces with Transatlantic. When the phone call finally comes through, he is - of course - in his studio in Stockholm.
eclipsed: Can you announce anything new from Transatlantic yet?
Stolt: It's not quite certain yet. But we hope that we will have a new album in about a year.
eclipsed: You have so many bands and projects. You know, when you get up, it's usually just about what's on that day
Stolt: Not really. Today, for example, I had a long phone call with the record company about Transatlantic. Then we had a talk with the promoters of the Flower Kings about our upcoming Japan tour. And now we're talking on the phone.
eclipsed: Then let's get to "Waiting For Miracles". It's a double album.
Even if the Flower Kings, one of the most important retro-prog bands of the nineties, no longer exist: Creative head Roine Stolt is as active as ever. Under the somewhat unwieldy project name Roine Stolt's The Flower King, the Swede has drummed together several (ex-)flower kings as well as colleagues from other groups for "Manifesto Of An Alchemist". With them he has recorded an album that is as varied as ever, the lyrics of which often reflect the world situation.
At the time of the interview, Roine Stolt is in the middle of preparing for the tour rehearsals that will take place in his hometown of Uppsala. The 62-year-old talks relaxed about the current album, but also about why the Flower Kings have reached a dead end. "Manifesto Of An Alchemist" can therefore also be understood as an artistic statement with which Stolt wants to revive the virtues of the original flower kings.
With The Sea Within, Roine Stolt has gathered a veritable all-star ensemble - with members of The Flower Kings, Pain Of Salvation and The Aristocrats. Names like Daniel Gildenlöw, Marco Minnemann or Jonas Reingold raise the expectations of fans of progressive music. The band initiator is aware of this and therefore tries to keep the ball flat. What would not be necessary at all, because the self-titled debut is a stylistically versatile double album between prog, art pop, jazz rock and film music, in which the joy of the participants is clearly noticeable.
THE ROLLING STONES
Time is on our side: 50 years of Stones in rapid succession
"For most people, the sun, the moon, the stars - and the Rolling Stones - have always existed!" Keith Richards once commented on the longevity of his band. The Rolling Stones haven't been around as long as the sun - but long enough to look back on 50 years of Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Roll. We do this by looking through the past half century for the most relevant events in the band's history - and summarizing the 50 most important Stones numbers from an eclipsed point of view.
ECLIPSED @ ROCKPALAST III
The cult lives!
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Chronicler of the American (Alpine) Dream
In 1988 the band Prefab Sprout made it clear in their song "Cars And Girls" that life is about more than cars and girls - an obvious side blow to Bruce Springsteen and his supposedly limited view of the world. At the end of September the new Boss album "Magic" will be released. A welcome opportunity to look back on Springsteen's career and see what the man from New Jersey is really interested in.
THE FLOWER KINGS
The Workaholics of the Prog
