Express Rising - Fixed Rope II Vinyl LP

The fourth Express Rising LP—and the second featuring the expanded lineup of William Suran and Kevin Blagg alongside leader Dante Carfagna—finds the trio largely eschewing percussion in favor of twelve concise, three-minute excursions. Bittersweet and restrained, these pieces retain the measured, highly melodic framework of their previous work. There’s a hint of Santo & Johnny at their most somnambulant here: slightly glazed, thoroughly reverb-drenched, and mysteriously capturing the flaring, saturated light of the desert at dusk.