“Mirror To The Sky”
Yes full of energy: “We can’t do anything else”
Yes’s new album Mirror To The Sky begins with the psychedelic-leaning uptempo song Cut From The Stars. photo
© Gottlieb Bros./October Promotion/dpa
With guitarist Steve Howe as producer, Yes are at their best without any original members. Howe, 76, has big plans, but no rush.
More than 50 years after their debut album, there is no end in sight for Yes. On the contrary. Less than two years after the excellent “The Quest”, the influential progressive rock band around guitarist Steve Howe is already releasing their next studio album: “Mirror To The Sky” is their 23rd album.
And although the line-up of Yes has changed so often, it sounds unmistakably like the iconic group that stands for musical strokes of genius like “And You And I”, “Roundabout” or “I’ve Seen All Good People”.
“The band has a story that everyone knows, and the members of the group are proud to be part of this story,” says band leader Steve Howe (76) in a good mood in an interview with the German Press Agency in London.
The recipe for the Yes sound
“There is no single important ingredient,” he says when asked about a recipe for the unmistakable Yes sound. “Everyone in the band brought something and now we’re bringing new things to the band,” he says. “We can’t do anything else.” That singer Jon Davison sounds almost like original frontman Jon Anderson is certainly an advantage.
Work on “Mirror To The Sky” began right after the band finished “The Quest”. The Brits, who are about to embark on an extensive tour, have been raring to go for a number of years. Howe describes the current album as particularly important because his band got new impetus with “The Quest”. It was the first album on which Howe – as now – was responsible as sole producer.
The focus is on the work as a whole
A Yes album develops organically. Prog veteran Howe doesn’t focus on individual songs, but on the entire work. “I always see the album,” he says. “So there has to be a shape, a curve. It has to have continuity – with ups and downs. They have to come at the right time to make it interesting. You don’t want all the downs first and then all the ups.”
“Mirror To The Sky” begins with the psychedelic-leaning uptempo song “Cut From The Stars”, which is still relatively straightforward. “All Connected” and “Luminosity”, on the other hand, show the full progressive bandwidth of the British over nine minutes each. The epic title track with orchestral passages is almost 15 minutes long. In terms of quality, Yes tie in directly with their predecessor with their new LP.
Drummer Alan White died a year ago
The cast that recorded the first album “Yes” an unbelievable 54 years ago is no longer there. Even Howe, who left the band in the 80’s and early 90’s, wasn’t there then. He joined in 1970. Longtime Yes drummer Alan White, who had been with the band since 1973 and the album Tales From Topographic Oceans, died a year ago.
White’s successor is Jay Schellen, who White had previously represented for health reasons. Most recently, the two shared the drum job at Yes concerts. “We were used to Jay and Alan taking turns,” says Howe. “And then it was more and more the case that Alan only played the encores at the end. Jay was always great and helped us a lot during these difficult times.” Schellen is now a permanent member.
Home for creativity and productivity
According to Howe, Yes have found a home at German progressive rock label InsideOut Music, based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, which is conducive to their creativity and productivity. “We’re songwriters and we write music,” says Steve Howe, explaining his motivation for being as active as ever at 76.
However, it is not to be expected that the 24th Yes album will follow within the next two years. For now, the quintet, completed by keyboard icon Geoff Downes and bassist Billy Sherwood, has planned an extensive concert tour. “I can’t predict anything, we don’t have a crystal ball,” jokes Steve Howe. “But we’ll keep pushing things and see where that goes. We’re in no hurry.”