01/11/2025
Thank you to BIG BANG Magazine, France for this wonderful review. "When ESP Project's highly successful Silver Waves ~ Astral Dreams was released just a year ago, we were already wondering whether Tony Lowe's almost supernatural creativity would ever wane. For the past decade, not a year has gone by without this English multi-instrumentalist reminding us of his talent with a new album, whatever the name (ESP, ESP 2.0, ESP Project, 22 Layers, etc.) and whatever the format (duo, group or solo) chosen for the project. Over the years, he has built a very personal musical edifice, without any major upheavals, each element being similar in substance to the others without being identical in form, an essential condition for capturing our attention and preventing us from becoming weary, even after the tenth opus.
With Velvet Crunch, ESP Project's 2025 vintage, you get the feeling of coming back down to earth, of touching something more organic, less immaterial, a feeling reinforced by the highly technical drumming of veteran Mark Brzezicki (formerly of Big Country, among others), who is making his big comeback to the band after participating in the first albums in 2016 and 2018. Relatively far removed from some of the usual progressive rock standards, the first half of Velvet Crunch (the ‘velvet’ part?) is closer to the luxurious and refined funky pop of Brian Ferry and the pleasant but inoffensive melodic rock of Alan Parsons Project, with particular attention paid to addictive melodies (the very pop ‘Network of Ghosts’ deserves the Tony Banks medal), intoxicating and somewhat depressive.
The soft, languid (almost lethargic) voice of singer Peter Coyle (whom we already encountered on the album Anarchic Curves) is not unrelated to this impression, as is Lowe's classy production, which covers the rich orchestrations with a hushed envelope, buffeted by the jazzy groove of Mark Brzezicki, whose playing is more determined and unrestrained than ever. Only the finale, with the oriental overtones of the dense ‘Resurrection (on the forest floor)’, brings a breath of fresh air to these notes, which may be considered a little too restrained.
The second half (the ‘crunchy’ part?) packs more of a punch. Peter Coyle finally comes out of his shell, Tony Lowe's guitar work becomes more abrasive, the musical structures less linear, with subtle tempo changes along the way (‘Velvet Crunch’) and a nice polyrhythmic frenzy, all without generating discomfort or radically degrading the album's mellow style.
With the relentless ‘Prophets of Decay’, we find Cheryl on keyboards and Mark Brzezicki's warlike drumming, the true centrepiece of the album, evoking the ultra-powerful, bouncing hammering of Phil Collins in the 1980s. The melancholic ‘The Touch and Timing of The Sun’, the only truly progressive track on Velvet Crunch, is the perfect finale, with its mysterious noisy intro, original twists and turns, and complex melody carried by Coyle's intense vocals. It's a generous and ambitious conclusion that will satisfy those who prefer their music crunchy and spicy.
But looking at the big picture, and ignoring a few less brilliant moments in the middle, Velvet Crunch stands out as the cornerstone of the edifice, built year after year by the prolific Tony Lowe, the convergence of all his talents (including his knack for surrounding himself with the right people). And on closer inspection, it seems that we have here one of the best albums from ESP Project."
-Alain SUCCA - Big Bang Magazine October 2025
