THE NEW SINGLE “BLUE DRAGON” FROM KIWI PROG BAND ‘OUTSIDE IN’ JUST RELEASED!

♫ There are two sides to every story teller
And every faded colour returns to green ♫

Lyrics to “Blue Dragon” by Outside In

It’s not often you see the words “New Zealand” and “Prog” used in the same sentence, but the Kiwi band, OUTSIDE IN is addressing just that by putting out a number of new singles available to download before they complete their debut Prog-delicious album, “Karmatrain” in December. Going by these three tracks released incrementally it will be well worth the wait. Their latest and third one from the pending album titled ‘BLUE DRAGON‘ is out now and available for download at the links below (see Bandcamp).

To be honest I only heard about them yesterday by happenstance, and two things really excited me. One was that we had another Prog band in New Zealand we can call our own. Two, they’re actually quite good. Scrub that. As we like to say down here. “They’re BLOODY GOOD!” And they are. Strong vocals with polished and interesting instrumentals is not going to hurt any Prog band by a long chalk, and these artists deliver in the three tracks I’m sure you’re going to want to hear and get for your collection. Funnily enough just as Jon Anderson was inspired by a certain author and book for Yes’s “Close To The Edge,” down where we like to think we’re close to the edge of the world, Outside In have written and are producing a concept album influenced around each chapter of this book. This of course is Hermann Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha’ which still holds relevance to this day of one man’s spiritual journey of self enlightenment, in short, as the word proposes, “finding meaning for oneself in life.” So it will be interesting how this band interprets this self-discovery through their music.

So who are OUTSIDE IN? This Auckland group notes their influences or inspirations are artists like Perfect Circle, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Karnivool, but I’d personally include Riverside in certain areas from what I’ve heard so far in that. They may not be aware of them, but that’s what I’m picking up, so if you enjoy one of Poland’s favourite Prog bands then you’ll get a taste of it here in short measures I’m sure. As said, one of their strengths is having a strong and distinctive vocalist on board with Mikey Brown. On guitars are Jonnie Barnard and Joe Park. Elliott Seung Il Park is on bass and Adam Tobeck on drums. They really do compliment each other in true Prog fashion with the skill set to match. It all fits perfectly and that’s why a number us are getting excited to find and have a band in our very own neighborhood we all know we’ll be hearing a lot more of. Add Producer/Engineer, Dave Rhodes (Blindspott, Head Like a Hole) in the mix (literally) and these are enjoyable listens over and over again. The next release will be their album so stay tuned.

Enjoy the video clip produced by Mikey’s brother, Ashton Brown, and filmed by Jonnie Barnard.

Last night I listened to an interview with Mikey and Jonnie on Radio Hauraki around the release of their new single, and have to say it felt like an auspicious moment for us that an existing home grown Prog band was taking up air space on a commercial radio station. How often does that happen? This is an excellent way for this band to get coverage before their new album comes out. Even better news for Kiwis, Outside In do have a number of live performances in the works so look out for them from the usual sources.

As said, I’ve only just become aware of the band, and hopefully before the release of their album in December I’ll ask for an interview with them to get some more information about them to add here. But I can tell you I discovered they had previously put out an EP, “The Nature of Dreams,” as well as videos nearly four years ago. Adam Willis was on bass on this one. I’ve included the link below for you to hear and purchase the EP if so wish. Meanwhile here’s a tasty clip of the single they released titled, “Sophies Ghost.”