You don’t often hear about it, but bands known for making progressive music are almost always under two kinds of pressure. External expectations develop in the form of fans, accolades, and feedback, but the also expectations within the given project.
Luckily these pressure patterns are known to produce musical diamonds – things that truly stand the test of time, be it in the form of records or bands themselves, and Copenhagen’s Town Portal, have long been established as one of the progressive arena’s shiniest, multi-faceted gems.
The trio released their new album today, and it’s scary how consistent the bad has been up to this point already but Grindwork genuinely might be their best yet. We’re not saying we were skeptical in any way, but even in the immediate aftermath of 2019’s Of Violence, the idea of surpassing it was hard to wrap our minds around.
Of course, Town Portal have done just that yet again. We really enjoyed the single “Crushed By Something Gentle,” especially the string accents and how they teased a larger yet laser focused scope, but we’re bowled over by the sheer motion of Grindwork as a whole. Every song stands on its own “Heart’s Content” and “Plow Share” share DNA with Of Violence and The Occident, but paint even bigger, more colorful pictures. In many ways Grindworks actually feels like their highest contrast record to date, balancing the peaks and valleys in a way that keeps listeners absolutely hooked from beginning to end.
“Sudoku” is sure to drive math rockers wild with its just barely juxtaposed time signatures, and the closer “Pleasure Chamber” would almost be better described as a pleasure… vista? Expanse? We don’t know, we don’t think we’ve ever tried one until now. It’s just a very big and brawny adventure that sounds like it would be difficult to contain.
With Grindwork being as diverse as it is, you’d think there would be an obvious moment of lull or relaxation, but the closest we get is “Grinding the Margins,” which is indeed quite soft but no less transfixing. It was about that moment it clicked in our minds that the record would have no problems standing shoulder to shoulder with the band’s previous classics. But to be fair, by the second or third track we weren’t even thinking about those albums, so in conclusion all we can say is that Town Portal has never missed, and they’re certainly not about to start now. Grindwork brings the same magic, but with new colors, and it’s an amazing ride.
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