Twenty-three years is a long silence. And yet, when Irish guitarist and composer John Bassett finally chose to break it, he didn’t ease back gradually — he returned with a statement. February 2026 brought “Son Of A Nun (Born Again),” his full-length comeback record; barely three months later, “Simon Says” arrived on May 14th, a five-track EP that functions less as an appendix and more as a parallel document — distinct in character, equally deliberate in execution. Available directly via Bandcamp in 24-bit HD audio, “Simon Says” maps the breadth of Bassett‘s compositional range across a concise but thematically cohesive runtime that exceeds eighteen minutes. Five tracks, two of which share the same DNA — the title piece presented first as a full vocal arrangement, then reprised as a purely instrumental reading to close the record. The title-track opens the EP and immediately sets the coordinates. At over nine minutes, it is the longest piece here, and the one that most explicitly plants Bassett‘s flag in the classic Progressive Rock tradition. The opening moves with confidence — a solid, grounded sound that quickly reveals its layered architecture, shifting through tempo changes and thematic developments without losing cohesion. The vocal performance is warm and expressive, carrying that particular timbre associated with British Prog — measured verses that open up into broad choral refrains. Beneath and around it, guitar and keyboard textures weave through flute inserts and mellotron-driven orchestral backgrounds, creating a sonic density that feels earned rather than decorative. The instrumental passages are where Bassett‘s authorial identity comes through most clearly: this is ’70s Progressive Rock not as pastiche but as a living language, spoken with contemporary clarity and personal conviction. The balance between sung passages and extended instrumental stretches keeps the listener anchored throughout. The piece closes with an intense guitar solo that builds into a dynamic crescendo — Symphonic and technically refined in equal measure, and a confident statement of intent. The second track opens with fingerpicked guitar arpeggios and a melodic vocal line that immediately signals a shift in atmosphere — more intimate, more inward. “Did You Forget Anything?” reveals another facet of Bassett’s writing: strong songcraft paired with a production that leans into something dreamlike and slightly suspended. The intensity builds progressively, the arrangement growing into a melancholic strain of Progressive Rock with choral sections and woodwind accents woven through the texture. The piece moves naturally between a Symphonic Prog sensibility and a more stripped singer-songwriter approach, always with that residual ’70s touch — references that feel absorbed rather than cited. The choral passages that bring the track to a close land with genuine emotional weight, and the overall construction shows a songwriter in full command of dynamics and emotional arc. The title carries its own context: composed under a 48-hour constraint, this track takes the sharpest turn on the record. Bassett shifts into more direct Rock territory — a driving bassline with real presence, distorted guitars, a drumming approach that is both solid and propulsive. There is an immediacy here that contrasts deliberately with the expansive architecture of the title track, and the contrast works. The vocal delivery matches the energy of the arrangement — expressive, committed, pulling the listener in. As an exercise in constraint-driven composition, “T Is For Tiger” demonstrates a different kind of discipline from the multi-part structures elsewhere on the EP: efficiency, directness, impact. It also broadens the scope of what “Simon Says,” as a release, is willing to contain. The fourth track, “Light Of The Body,” opens with layered choral vocals before settling into a Rock framework with distinctly British characteristics and unmistakable references to the late 1960s underground scene. There is a Prog inflection throughout — not dominant, but present — and it is the guitar work in the second half that elevates the piece, offering a well-constructed solo passage with real expressive range. When the vocal returns to bring the track to its close, it does so with momentum — a measured crescendo that rounds out the main body of the EP before the final act. The decision to close with the full instrumental version of the title-track is not merely a structural choice — it is an interpretive one. Stripped of the vocal layer, the architecture becomes fully visible: the Progressive arrangements that might have moved in the background of the original reading now occupy the foreground entirely. It is a different experience of the same piece, and a legitimate one. Listening to both versions in sequence reveals dimensions in Bassett‘s writing that neither version alone would fully expose. As a closer, it also reinforces something that runs through the entire EP: the sense that the music itself, independent of any single element, carries its own weight. Released barely three months after the full-length comeback “Son Of A Nun (Born Again),” “Simon Says” confirms that John Bassett‘s return to solo work is not a one-off event but an active, ongoing process. Four original tracks plus the instrumental reprise — five pieces that collectively trace the range of a compositional voice moving comfortably from multi-part Progressive architecture to more direct, constraint-driven Rock writing. For listeners whose primary orientation is classic Progressive Rock, the first two tracks are where the deepest resonance will be found: Bassett locating the atmosphere of a specific era and translating it into something personal and contemporary without nostalgia becoming a trap. The rest of the EP broadens the frame. Taken as a whole, “Simon Says” is a confident, well-constructed release from an artist who returned with something to say — and who clearly isn’t finished yet.
Tracklist
01. Simon Says – 09:16
02. Did You Forget Anything? – 04:49
03. T Is For Tiger (48 hour limitation song) – 03:37
04. Light Of The Body – 04:49
05. Simon Says (Instrumental) – 09:16