Imagine something like the following happening to you...you're a low-profile instrumental Rock band with Progressive leanings, and you start writing music which is both energetic, ambient, and emotionally laden. You have a couple of gigs, and a small label notices you, offering to release your debut album. So you record an album's worth of material, and upon release of the album you suddenly get praised by the international press media. Overnight, you've become the “next hot thing”, and find yourself playing support slots with bands you never dreamed to play with, even start going on tours with some of those idols... Such a scenario of a dream-come-true was exactly what happened with Polish act Tides From Nebula!
Formed in early 2008 (current line-up, and probably the original one...unless I'm mistaken...consisting of guitarist Adam Walenszynski, guitarist/ keyboardist/ pianist Maciej Karbowski, bassist Przemek Weglowski, and drummer Tomasz Stolowski), TFN wrote some 50 minutes worth of material which became the basis of their debut album Aura, released through small imprint Rockers in March 2009. reactions from both press (national and international) and audiences was extremely positive, with Polish magazine Przekrój including the band in the Top 10 of Polish debuts, and Aura in the Top 10 of 2009 albums, and Teraz Rock putting the band on the #4 place of Polish debuts. In no time, the band saw itself catapulted into one of the more important Polish export product in the Post-Rock genre, and confirmed their performance skills by winning the two biggest band contests in Poland, Neuro Music and Before Party (respectively winning the band performances at the Asymmetry and KnockOut festivals). In September 2009 the band went on a Polish tour with America's Caspian and Ireland's God Is An Astronaut, making it the most important Post-Rock event of that year, and the guys went on to play shows in support of the likes of Oceansize (UK), Pure Reason Revolution (UK), Shrinebuilder (US), This Will Destroy You (US), and Ulver, and they followed that up with a small (10-date) European tour which even landed the boys in Belgium. During the 2010 Fall, the band again went on tour, playing near 40 shows in Poland and Europe, with audiences the amount of which completely surprised and stunned the band.
Writing and recordings sessions for sophomore album Earthshine were done in the first half of 2010, with the band taking recluse in the Polish mountains in order to take themselves away from everyday life. This, along with the aid of renowned composer Zbigniew Preisner (known for his film and theater scores), whom himself offered to produce the band's new work after having heard their debut, made the second album, which was released in early May 2011 through Mystic Productions, exceed all expectations. In promotion of the warmly received album, the band headed out on a European tour, at first putting in some headline shows, before joining fellow Polish band Riverside on a larger tour. For the writing sessions of their third album, the band first locked itself away for 6 months in their own studio, focusing completely on writing the new material with the added experiences of having worked with Preisner. The material was eventually recorded and produced by Christer Andre Cederberg (whom you might, among other, know from Anathema's 2012 album Weather Systems) in June of last.
The album title relates to the movement of life itself or, as the band states, “When we look at things as a microcosm, deep within the atom it's just energy and therefore movement. All we are, all we see is movement”! The album is said to be the band's most colourful to date or, in their own words (I simply love to do that, don't I?!), “It's energetic, full of hope and light. It has a greater depth of sound as we used several more guitars, different drum kits and far more keyboards than on previous albums”! Whatever, you know! What I know, is that the band's music, as displayed on their third album, is a must-have for any fan of Instrumental Post-Rock or, of Instrumental Prog Rock or, of Instrumental Rock tout-court! Regretfully, at eth time of writing (and I cannot help not having been able to review the album earlier, because there's been so much more on my slate...also I got the promo download after the facts) the band has already returned home from a month-long European tour in support of The Ocean, with dates running from late October to the end of November. To get an idea of what the band sounds like, check TFN's pages on facebook (www.) facebook.com/tidesfromnebula (among the songs posted there, you'll also find “Hollow Lights”, the album's first single), or Last.fm (click Aura or Earthshine covers to find samples of all of those albums' tracks). The guys also have a MySpace page, but since I cannot log onto that, I won't endorse it. Check also the “News” section at the band's own (www.) tidesfromnebula.com, where some exclusive stream of the new album are (or, at least wére) offered.
Meanwhile, we have another addition to our 2013 year-lists skipping the nominations...yahoo!!!