Airbridge are wonderful, lets put that there first, they came back with a wonderful album after years and years (and years) not so long ago and pleased are we to have them back, they are a delight. A cult band, one of the more obscure of the classic 80s UK Prog scene bands (and no don’t start calling it neo f*%$ing prog, that was something awful that came later), Airbridge are releasing their third album Openings 40 years on from their 1983 debut and a couple of years on from 2021’s rather fine Memories of Water, on October 13th On the same day as they release the album they are releasing a one off, stand alone acapella single ‘That Big Small Step‘ from the rather fine new album.

And let me be honest here, this page is rushed, I’m in full Art Car Boot Fair mode this week, music is taking a back seat, I did promise to put something up before tonight’s Other Rock Show and the album review will be along in a moment but for now, here’s the taster track and a link, they haven’t put anything up on their website or Bandcamp yet, I guess it all comes along on October 13th…. Watch this space, the review will be here later tonight, I can multi-task!

Here we go, a review of the album…

Airbridge – Openings – Airbridge are a delight, lets put that there first, set the stall out as it were, walk the railway line eating too many Black Jacks and sherbet-filled flying saucers. The very English band came back a couple of years ago with a wonderful album after years (and years) of being, well, years of being all but forgotten. Airbridge are, as we have already said, wonderful, a cult band in their day, one of the more obscure of the classic 80s UK Prog scene bands (and no don’t start calling it neo f*%$ing prog, that was something awful that came later!). Airbridge are back and releasing their third album Openings some forty years on from their 1983 debut and a couple of years on from 2021’s rather fine Memories of Water.
 
Openings is, as they say themselves, an album that embraces the band’s past, reflects their present, and suggests that there is much more to come. Originally part of the early 80s UK prog scene, Airbridge built up something of a cult following thanks to their much traded tapes and that one 1983 album, Paradise Moves, as well as a few appearances at the Marquee, the spiritual home of the then rather healthy fanzine-powered scene that gave birth to so so much. “For reasons lost in the mists of aged memories, the band broke up before they finished recording a follow-up album”. 

Fast forward to 2013 and, out of the blue, an EP titled Return was released by two of the original members, Lorenzo Bedini and Sean Godfrey, plus Dave Dowdeswell-Allaway, their 1980s live sound tech. It would take another eight years before that long- awaited second album would finally appear. Titled Memories of Water, the line-up had changed due to the ill health, and the subsequent retirement from playing, of Sean Godfrey. In his stead, the bass parts were played by either Lorenzo or Dave, and Jason Crompton was asked to join on piano, trumpet, synths, and harmonica. A mere two years on from the release of that album comes their latest and, so their press release claims, their most accomplished album, Openings.

What we have here is a celebration of what Airbridge were, where they came from and more importantly where they might like to be going.  This piece is probably going to say some of the things said on these pages last time around, the album is far from perfect, it is flawed, it does sound like it was made on a bit of a shoestring budget, but that, once again is the delight, that is why it works, that’s why it has been on repeat in here for the last week or so. Once again Openings feels like a set of recordings from a group of old friends  who lived the dream together back in those wonderful days of the Marquee Choral Society, the almost naive times of IQ, Pallas, La Host and the rest of them and especially the best days of those Market Square Heroes. The days of tapes sold at gigs, fanzines and flyers swapped and word of mouth friendships, scanning the Sounds gig guide, networks of people that have almost lasted lifetimes. it was almost a secret society, the last great musical taboo, making unashamed progressive rock in the face of post punk early 80s, it was almost an act of defiance and Airbridge were a big part of it and somehow, they let it all slip and until 2021 only ever made that one album. It kind of feels that at some point they just said, what’s the hell, let’s do it, let just do what we always wanted to do before the chance has gone forever. You kind of imagine them sitting in a quintessential Norfolk pub garden sipping pints of cider in the sunshine and saying to each other, “there we are, we did it”.

These two albums from this decade are their legacy, their marks made, their yes-we-were-here. These two albums say yes we are here right now and they’re kind of saying it for us all and the fact that the production isn’t perfect, that it is flawed is exactly why both albums works do perfectly and why this new album is, in its own special way, almost perfect. The thing here though, and this is important, what Openings is saying is there is more to come, that they’ve looked back, they’ve embraced that magic, they have their legacy, they’ve done what they should have done and with that done there’s That Big Small Step, a piece, a gloriously experimental piece, right there in the middle of an album they you really have to listen to as one whole thing, a very big small step forward, an acapella piece that really does stand out before they take us into the hope and the quick march of progress…

You have to listen to the whole thing properly and once again you have to give Openings time, it isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and you’re probably not going to get it instantly, you do have to let it seep in, you have to give it proper attention, let it grow, find the detail, explore the back lanes, acquire the taste, go and meet it half way, you have to give it the time it deserves or you’re probably going to miss finding that essence, that magic. Give it time and you will be rewarded, and yes you’ll probably find the hints of Marillion, of Genesis and Caravan, there is the obligatory twelve minute epic, and if you were part of the Choral Society, you will find that feeling, that delight, that thing we thought lost. Openings isn’t perfect, it isn’t for everyone, the vocal production is certainly flawed, the drum sound lacks a little – not the playing, the sound – and there maybe is no Childhood’s End but you will enjoy the day and Hey There!

Openings is just a delight, Airbridge are a delight and we look forward to them just looking forward next time, it does feel like there will be a next time. The album is out on October 13th 2023. Watch their Bandcamp page for updates and details in terms of how to get hold of it. (sw)  

Previously on these pages

ORGAN THING: Three wholesome slices of prog rock, new albums from Airbridge, Diagonal and A Formal Horse…

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