A new Haken album is always a treat. Grandiose, playful and above all prog, all of the band’s back catalogue has burst with imagination. My personal favourite is “Affinity” (2016). But I can hear harrumphing from other followers of the band who prefer other ones. “Fauna” ostensibly has an animal theme attached to each track but with this band it’s dangerous and naïve to think that the music is about one thing.
Sure enough, the opener “Taurus” is a song of many phases and passages, featuring the epic choral vocal of regular singer Ross Jennings. It treads many paths over its relatively short duration of just under 5 minutes. Ross’s vocal gymnastics go well with the heavy prog jazz instrumentals of “Nightingale”. Returning keyboard player Peter Jones delivers dark and funky passages They sit alongside dynamic guitar work in a typical piece of all out drama encompassing delicacy, heaviness and individual expression. “Alphabet of Me” starts off in a simple style, except it never is that. On the one hand mechanical like computer code prevails. On the other it is flooded with emotion and electricity. At one point the trumpet plays while there’s a reggae style riff and a delicate harmony going on.
“Fauna” is typically complex for a Haken album but correspondingly delightful. Regimented melody goes with guitar riffs, dense layers and deep atmospheres, And that’s in the same song. There’s delicate playfulness, accentuated by Ross’s single person rendition of barber shop style and the subtleties of the keyboard. I thought it had turned into “The Mountain” at one point. Haken are never afraid to be experimental. This album is moment after moment, passage after passage of wonderment, as we go through heavy prog, delicate prog and magical prog. There is magic in the air with Haken. Drama combines with haunting harmonies and rock flamboyance on the hypnotic “Sempiternal Beings”. “Beneath the White Rainbow” is the band at its more obscure and experimental. In spite of all its shifting, it somehow hangs on to being a song. “Island in the Clouds” starts off dreamily by virtue of the keyboard work, drums and vocals before blending into a deep prog melody. Here is prog instrumental virtuosity mixed with attention-demanding vocals. Its ending takes us to the heights. By contrast the heartwarming and more commercial “Lovebite” is a simple rock song with harmonies.
The album finishes with two epic songs. The first of these is the 11 minutes long “Elephants Never Forget”. Starting like a Queen mega song, it transforms into eccentric vaudeville but behind it is a serious prog song. “I remember” appeals Ross echoingly from the heights, as dark keyboard wizardry surrounds him, itself forming dark techno as the song takes its mysterious and sinister course. Ross turns into Freddie Mercury at one point, but as ever “Elephants Never Forget” is a kaleidoscope of styles and moods which blend into a whole which fuses technical ideas, emotional heights and invention. “Eyes of Ebony” closes the album. The song itself is about the extinction of the northern white rhinoceros, but is also a tribute to the father of one of the band members who gave great support during his lifetime. The song is delicate and based on melancholy while in structure it is full of colour, funkiness, emotional swings and ultimately full of life as, to quote a lyric from the song, “we strode to the mountain top”.
Rich, adventurous, imaginative, quirky – all these words apply to “Fauna”. One thing it’s not is fluid. We are whisked away on an hour-long journey, where the wind takes us in all directions and through different landscapes, never pausing other than breaks between songs and constantly imposing layer upon layer of prog finery as we progress between passages. It’s a treat like an indulgent dessert but at the same time it’s overwhelming. I found it became more digestible with each listen and with every listen it all gets sorted out in my head so I am more at ease with its weight and balance. Existing Haken followers will recognise everything about this album. In fact it’s like a compendium of Haken – this is just another way of saying that “Fauna” is a substantial affair. One Haken album has enough content for three of another band’s albums. This one is particularly full-on. Aside from the musical extravaganza, the subject matter of this album is serious. It’s dark fare with a plethora of human touches and it’s certainly no trip to the zoo to see cuddly animals. As for a musical experience, Haken take us into their world, capture us, embrace us, and speaking for myself here, bring us a lot of intrigue and pleasure.
(9/10 Andrew Doherty)
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