My admin is so out of kilter at the moment that I’d completely missed out on this song and almost confined it to the trash bin in a clear out.
It’s pretty old as well, having been released on 6th September but better late than never.
Something else that saved it from the shredder was the opening line in the press release which said “So far, our songs have been compared to the likes of David Bowie, Peter Gabriel/Genesis, ABBA and others.” (The list of others is extensive).
Now I know they’re Swedish but I’ve never seen Genesis and ABBA in the same sentence!
Last Plane Out is a duo, of Nils Erikson (Malmö), and Anders Lundquist (Stockholm) and Nils has a ‘Genesis connection’ in that he spent many years as the pianist and co-lead singer of the progressive rock band Karmakanic, led by longtime Steve Hackett bassist, Jonas Reingold.
Now I’ve seen Reingold in action in Hackett’s band and that alone immediately tells me there’s quality here.
The two met in the 1990s when Anders, a writer, was hired to write a biography about Nils. When Nils learned that Anders was not only a writer and a musician, but also an accomplished lyricist, they started to collaborate on songs. Nils wrote the music. Anders provided the lyrics. And I assume that’s the way it still is today.
So here’s my verdict. Firstly, as I always say, having been raised on 1970s prog, it’s always good to hear something new and fresh and especially if it’s coming out of Sweden where the sprit has been kept alive by the likes of Rikard Sjöblom and others that have featured in these pages.
The instantly catchy and attention-grabbing ‘All fool’s day’ immediately invokes Phil Collins’ ‘More fool me’ on Genesis’ ‘Selling England by the Pound’ album in 1974, the first time he’d ever sung lead for them and indeed Nils’ voice initially is quite similar to that of Collins.
This song is absolutely riddled with melody and hooks, from beginning to end, ebbing and flowing like all good prog songs should do while never departing entirely from a mainstream pop vibe, and even containing a rising section that might have been taken from ‘MacArthur Park’.
There are some smart and delightful little runs on the piano, a diversionary strings-led bridge, and the harmonising is spot on. Suddenly I can see where a prog/ABBA comparison might have come from.
Frankly, it’s got everything and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it on Radio 2 here in the UK; it ticks all the boxes where Britain’s biggest radio station is concerned.
Last Plane Out are currently working on their second album, which will be out in February 2025. Around then, Nils and Anders will also put together a live band. I really hope we might get to see them in the UK.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/last.plane.outSE
Photo credit: Johan Bergmark.
