DOWNES BRAIDE ASSOCIATION
Halcyon Hymns CHERRY RED
Superior concept album revelling in a distant past.
When in 1981 Soft Cell were doing their new wave thing and Geoff Downes had formed Asia with Yes bandmate Steve Howe, the two seemed musically poles apart. Who would have imagined that, one day, Marc Almond would be the catalyst for this fine prog album, made by Downes with Almond’s collaborator Chris Braide? As Braide – a super-talented musician and writer – was left high and dry by the pandemic, Almond suggested that he hook up with Downes again to make an album together to lift the malaise. And, with its rich evocation of times past, attention to detail and infectious melodies, Halcyon Hymns certainly travels some way to do that.