Jim Matheos just might be the best guitar player nobody ever talks about. He’s all about tone, nuance, and restraint, which goes completely against the prog metal grain. I think of him as prog metal’s version of David Gilmour. I mean, Fates Warning, the man’s primary outlet, once released a progressive metal album with no guitar solos. Who does that? Matheos has been involved in a few projects that are well known and respected in the prog world – yes, Fates Warning, but also his Arch/Matheos albums with John Arch and OSI, his collaboration with Kevin Moore to name a couple. Tuesday the Sky, essentially a Matheos solo project, doesn’t fit in with any of these other projects. Both The Blurred Horizon and the outfit’s first album, Drift, focus on quiet post-rock arrangements laced with ambience and electronica. Tuesday the Sky is a side of Matheos we don’t often see.
Nine of the eleven songs on The Blurred Horizon are strikingly similar. These are quiet, delicate tracks that are best suited to sitting in a meadow looking pensively off into the distance – oh, maybe like the promo pic below. Of these selections, the opening two are the most memorable. “Half Remembered” starts with a haunting melody, two guitars playing off each other, and is slowly joined by keyboards. Past the midway point drums and synth bass are added, giving the song a roiling, almost menacing feel, really changing it up from the beginning. As the title might suggest, “Near Light” is pre-dawn music, the sound of one just beginning to awaken. It’s restrained and subdued, like much of the work Tuesday the Sky records.
“Hypneurotic,” is the album’s changeup, and also the best song. Gavin Harrison (The Pineapple Thief, King Crimson) plays two drum kits here, panned left and right. Harrison actually plays on half these songs, but his impact is most obvious here. “Hypneurotic” is the most OSI-like, with a wonderful guitar/electronic arrangement and a super progression from mellow to heavy. “Half Forgotten” introduces some gurgling electronic samples in the background, and the mesmerizing arrangement is welcome following a couple of spa-like numbers. Meanwhile, the only vocal on the album is found on closer “Everything is Free,” a cover of a twenty-year-old Gillian Welch/David Rawlings song. Tim Bowness – another name well known in prog rock circles – lends his hushed, wistful voice to the song in this fittingly laid-back finale.
As with anything Matheos works on, The Blurred Horizon sounds fantastic. As I mentioned, he is a master of tone. Aside from Bowness and Harrison, he plays all instruments here, and the production, mix, and mastering are all spot on. If there is a problem at all, it’s the fact that most of Tuesday the Sky’s songs are so similarly quiet and mellow that, even after weeks of playing the album, I can’t recall half of them. In the right setting this could be perfect (in other words, playing in the background to induce a sense of calm), but I would be remiss as a reviewer if I didn’t point out that my attention wandered multiple times each listen.
The Blurred Horizon is an album that might fare better being reviewed on a site that isn’t obligated to hand out grades. There is some beautifully introspective music on here. At the same time, it’s difficult to stay focused through the entire album. Due to the very nature of the music, I found myself getting up and doing other stuff, then forgetting that I was supposed to be sitting there doing the critical listening thing, and I’d have to rewind. Listened to in the right setting, this is a wonderful collection of mood music with several standout tracks. Fans of Matheos will certainly want to dig in.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: tuesdaythesky.bandcamp.com | tuesdaythesky.com | facebook.com/TuesdaytheSky
Release Worldwide: September 3, 2021
