John Lees´Barclay James Harvest-Relativity (2025)

In 1998, Barclay James Harvest's two main songwriters, Les Holroyd and John Lees, agreed to go their separate ways, although they continued working under the original band name. This led to the creation of two different formations: Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd, which maintained the AOR style of their later work; and John Lees' Barclay James Harvest, more oriented towards the progressive sound of the 1970s. Of the two, the latter has been the more active in terms of recording, releasing four albums since their 1999 debut, "Nexus". Over the years, other albums followed, such as "Festivale" in 2002, "North" in 2013, and "Relativity", released in 2025. Focusing on this last album, John Lees is accompanied by keyboardist Jez Smith, guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist Craig Fletcher, and percussionist Kevin Whitehead. Here, they focus on creating seductive melodies over a tight instrumental foundation and engaging vocals that convey emotion and intensity. The length of most of the songs is striking, exceeding six minutes in almost all of them. Epic pieces like the opening track, "Relativity Part 1", present introspective and somber music under John Lees' velvety vocal harmonies. Likewise, the orchestrated "The Blood of Abraham", the serene "Heard It All Before", and the bucolic "Magpie" are all praiseworthy songs. Other songs, such as the orchestrated "Hourglass", the energetic "Snake Oil" with its classic rock accent and enveloping vocal harmonies, the accessible "The End of Days" with gospel choirs and jazzy instrumentation, and the splendid "Picture World", are the prelude to one of the album's high points: the fascinating "Relativity Part 2", an outstanding piece of pinpoint precision with intense progressive rock sensations. With this album, and at this stage of their career, after more than fifty-five years, this legendary band no longer cares what their detractors think; they are on another level, regardless of what others say.