*****
Soft Machine return with a new line-up, and their thirteenth studio album, sixty years since the band was formed.
The number thirteen is unlucky for some, but the latest version of Soft Machine obviously don’t think so. In some cultures, the number is considered a symbol of change, regeneration or growth. Thirteen is the title of the band’s thirteenth album. The record has thirteen tracks, the longest of which is thirteen minutes. The band was co-founded by Daevid Allen, who was born on 13 January and died on 13 March. And the record is due out on Friday 13 March (what could be luckier than that?)
The album marks another chapter in Soft Machine’s complicated history over the last six decades. The band was formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. They were founder members of the Canterbury Scene, starting as a psychedelic band, and maintaining a regular residency at the UFO Club in London alongside the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Later, they became a progressive rock and jazz rock band. None of the founder members is still in the band; over the decades, the band has had over 30 members. The latest iteration of the band was formed in 2025, with John Etheridge on guitar (celebrating his 50th anniversary with the band!), long-standing member Theo Travis on sax, flute and keyboards, and new members Fred Thelonious Baker (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (drums).
Soft Machine luminary Robert Wyatt has endorsed Sirkis,
‘As far as I can see there’s nothing he can’t do when he puts his mind to it.. his kit skills just keep expanding but what really get to me are his ethereal, haunting compositions.’
Sirkis returns the compliment with Waltz for Robert, a haunting track that starts with gentle guitar chords and film noir flute that has the feel of Don’t Hate Me by Steven Wilson on which Theo Travis also plays. Travis’ flute playing becomes more florid, even as the guitar chords remain melancholy. Fred Thelonious Baker provides lovely fretless bass.
Sirkis also wrote the superb opening track Lemon Poem Song, with an atmospheric, gently aspirational chord sequence overlaid by John Etheridge’s filigree guitar work. Sirkis also shows what a stunningly virtuosic drummer he is, a worthy addition to the band.
The new version of the band has one song credited to all the band members, Pens to the Foal Mode, which was recorded live in the studio as a completely free group improvisation with no overdubs: all flute loops were recorded in real time. It’s a spacey track, with some dystopian guitar from John Etheridge. Seven Hours also starts with some free improvisation: this all bodes well for the band’s forthcoming tour which begins on 12 March.
Baker’s first composition for the band is Turmoil which begins with dense guitar, and a King Crimson sense of impending doom, with unsettling fuzz bass from Baker and an angular melody from Travis on sax. The track barely holds itself together, but virtuosic drumming from Sirkis just about keeps this superb song from falling part: a nightmarishly delicious vision that perfectly matches its title.
The bulk of the composing duties fall to Travis, who contributes nearly half of the tracks. He describes Open Road as a ‘rocky track’ which fits his philosophy that melody is important. Like Lemon Poem Song, this track features an emotive chord sequence that underpins Travis’ long-limbed earworm of a melody. The sax solo is reminiscent of the work of the great Dick Parry, most famous for his work with Pink Floyd. Etheridge’s guitar solo has something of the feel of David Gilmour but with added intricacy. Fans of progressive rock will be pleased to note that the Mellotron is not just any Mellotron; this is Steven Wilson’s Mellotron. As Travis recounted to Sid Smith in Prog, Wilson let him use his Mellotron in return for Travis guesting at Wilson’s 2025 show at the Palladium.
The centrepiece of the album is Travis’ composition The Longest Night, which Smith describes in his sleeve notes as ‘prog-leaning’, perhaps because of its 13-minute length. This is an epic in King Crimson mode, which casts back to long-form, contemplative instrumentals from albums like Lark’s Tongue in Aspic (1973) and Starless and Bible Black (1974). There’s a lovely moment late in the track which is reminiscent of Ian Anderson’s flute playing, with a King Crimson bass line creeping up underneath. But this isn’t prog rock pastiche. Pete Whittaker provides some excellent work on organ, and Sirkis’ drumming is simply stunning. Travis provides pleasingly melodic sax lines. Etheridge played his extended solo live in the studio, worried afterwards that it was too long. Travis told Smith,
‘I don’t think [Etheridge] would mind me saying that he regards this as his best solo moment, and he’s made a lot of records over the years.’
The album ends with Daevid’s Special Cuppa, another tribute to a founder member of Soft Machine. Travis worked with Daevid Allen, who last played with the band in 1967, as a member of Gong from 1999 to 2009, and in 2001 he recorded Allen playing ‘glissando guitar’ in the studio. Travis has written a gorgeous song around Allen’s shimmering guitar, featuring the evocative sound of the duduk, an Armenian traditional instrument which he played on Aeolus: one hour duduk meditation, another collaboration with Wilson. The track ends with Allen’s ghostly guitar rising into the ether, coming full circle 60 years later.
Performers
John Etheridge Electric guitar
Theo Travis Tenor and soprano saxes, flute, alto flute, Fender Rhodes piano, electronics, piano (track 1), Mellotron, Electronics
Fred Thelonious Baker Fretless bass guitar
Asaf Sirkis Drums and percussion, piano (track 6)
Daevid Allen (recorded in 2001) glissando guitar (track 13)
Pete Whittaker Organ (tracks 2,5), Fender Rhodes piano (track 2)
Nick Utteridge Gong (track 5)
Tracks
1 Lemon Poem Song (Sirkis) (3.27)
2 Open Road (Travis) (7.30)
3 Seven Hours (Travis) (5.12)
4 Waltz for Robert (Travis) (4.19)
5 The Longest Night (Travis) (13.08)
6 Disappear (Sirkis) (3.55)
7 Green Books (Etheridge) (5.46)
8 Beledo Balado (Etheridge) (4.32)
9 Pens To The Foal Mode (Baker, Etheridge, Sirkis, Travis) (2.42)
10 Time Station (Travis) (2.46)
11 Which Bridge Did You Cross (Travis) (2.49)
12 Turmoil (Baker) (5.30)
13 Daevid’s Special Cuppa (Travis) (3.10)
Thirteen is released on Dyad Records through Proper on Friday 13 March. Soft Machine’s 32-date tour begins in Coventry on Thursday 12 March.
Read on…
Theo Travis plays on Steven Wilson’s Overview Tour…
Theo Travis at Prog the Forest 2024
More jazz/rock/fusion…
Shez Raja