Spencer Eliott

Great progressive music is more than just an endless flurry of notes, executed like a few dozen scale exercises chained together. With the truly elevated progressive album, the notes kind of blur into the background and a wholly new three-dimensional space emerges. The effect is like a magic eye image (Gen Z'ers go look that reference up). You stop following each section in the same manner as you would a pop song and it becomes a meditative experience. As if the constantly morphing soundscape is imitating the chaotically firing neurons in your brain. Whoa...

Virtuoso guitarist Spencer Elliott and his fellow trio musicians bassist Sean Sydnor and drummer Chris Hudson perform an intricate, ever-evolving style that loves to incorporate the concepts of progressive hard rock and metal but channelled through the acoustic guitar. Without the veil of forgiving distortion, Elliott's compositions must be precisely delivered and impeccably timed. This trio happens to be airtight, allowing Elliott to go on wild explorations while the rock steady rhythm section holds it down. Everything from elaborate neo-classical to spanky funk is stirred into the pot to make the group's fourth release, SE3 an expansive, mind-massaging musical adventure.

Calming waves of echoing acoustic guitar provide a palette cleanser to open the album on the lead single 'Torque', which is out now. The band enters with force laying down a punchy funk line with all three player's grooves a slave to the snare drums authoritative downbeat. Elliott employs a percussive hammer-on technique that merges seamlessly with Syndnor's snaky slap bass in a riff style that Animals as Leaders embraced on their third album, particularly the single 'Physical Education'. Elliott switches gears to a section of shiny harmonic pings, ringing out like a chorus of orchestral bells. Sydnor takes a solo tastefully employing runs while the rest of the band reserves itself to minimal rhythmic accents. A return to the main chorus wraps the track with Hudson breaking from his reserved, yet heavily pocketed groove to show off a few masterful drum fills.

Throughout the album, Elliott puts on a clinic of highly adapted styles, flowing from one technique to another imperceptibly allowing the listener to get lost in the soundscape that he's creating. Songs like 'Silver Maple' and 'The Tournament' showcase an incredibly inventive kind of playing that acoustic masters like Andy McKee used to wow viewers in the early days of YouTube. 'Elipsos' finds the group back in punchy territory with both string slingers landing their strikes in perfect unison for a snappy assault. '4_20's initial guitar clinic evolves into wavy chords, rocking the boat in new ways. The penultimate 'The Wolf and The Hawk' stands out for its loose playing with pacing, leaving room for lackadaisical meandering as opposed to the rest of the album's earnestly pressing momentum. When the beat does come in steady, Hudson lays down a deeply satisfying groovy half-time. Over this base, Elliott once again lets loose. Each line leads brilliantly to the next with minimal repetition in a staggering showcase of creativity.

SE3 can be listened to with the fine-toothed comb analysis of a guitar aficionado and be lauded for its highly innovative playing and flawless execution. Or it can be appreciated by the casual listener for its beautiful textures and transcendent mood. Either way, Spencer Elliott and Co. have produced a gorgeous piece of music from start to finish.