The Japanese band ptf, founded in 2009 as an instrumental Progressive and Jazz Rock quartet, has established itself over the years thanks to their live performances and five outstanding studio albums. The new album, titled “Ambiguous Fragile Sign” was released on December 11, 2024 via Perpetual Spring Records and contains 7 long tracks including the final epic suite of over 25 minutes. The album and opener ‘To the Skyline’ slowly immerse us in the band’s sounds with a fine violin and keyboard intro. Dreamy atmospheres permeate the sound, emotional and crescendoing, culminating in an eclectic and elaborate track that mixes Progressive and Jazz Rock/Fusion through continuous tempo changes and technical and intricate solo interventions. The violin takes centre stage, creating fine interlacing with the keyboards in the second half, with the track being a rollercoaster of emotion thanks to the precise tempo changes. The band explores a more airy and less intricate sound in “Eris,” although there is no lack of tempo changes and more elaborate phrasing. The sound brings classic Progressive Rock sounds back into a modern context, with the band’s marked personal touch given by the magical sound of the violin, which is definitely a positive protagonist. Very interesting are the contaminations of both Classical music and above all 70s Prog Rock, Symphonic and dreamy atmospheres, making us relive those sensations for over 10 minutes. “In the Abyss” is instead a track that contaminates Progressive with Jazz or vice versa, managing to find the right meeting point between the two genres and enhancing the band’s songwriting. The melancholic melodies of the violin, the incursions of the piano that remind us precisely of Jazz, the solid and elaborate rhythm section, this piece has all the ingredients one would look for in passages like this. The band’s compositional and performing technique is enhanced with each passage, offering in the second part a prolonged violin solo that accompanies us to the finale. The mixture of Jazz and Progressive Rock continues in “Sorrow 43/Bliss 47,” with excellent keyboard and violin phrasing accompanying us throughout the song. The rhythm section is elaborate, while the band develops a sound reminiscent of the softer Canterbury Scene, with a more pronounced piano presence. The band returns to more complex sounds with “Inner Conflict,” where continuous tempo changes outline the structure, with violin and keyboards offering solo interweavings and very refined melodies. This is a track that has its strength in the rhythm section, allowing the violin and keyboards to interchange in the sometimes virtuosic solo interventions, which are always very intense and sophisticated. The album’s shortest track “The Calm,” which reaches almost 4 minutes, shows a more Experimental side of the band. Keyboards give an electronic and Ambient touch to the sound, which takes us as the title says ‘calmly’ to the final track. The epic suite “Thesis,” through its long duration explores all the different facets that characterize the band’s sound. We have Symphonic openings and Progressive passages, Jazz textures and more intricate and elaborate weaves, with all instruments as protagonists. The band manages to keep the intensity high at all times and capture the listener’s concentration from beginning to end, offering a piece that is definitely the highlight of an already excellent traclist. An album that confirms that this band is among the most interesting and original on the Progressive scene in recent years, confirming the good things heard on previous releases. The band’s personal style permeates the sound of the album, with complex textures interwoven with more Progressive and ‘accessible’ passages.’ A recommended listen to all lovers of Progressive sounds with a marked Jazz component, with remiescences of the Canterbury Scene in its most Prog accezzione, proposing a mature work full of very interesting nuances.
Tracklist
01. To the Skyline (9:09)
02. Eris (10:14)
03. In the Abyss (8:31)
04. Sorrow 43/Bliss 47 (5:46)
05. Inner Conflict (9:56)
06. The Calm (3:46)
07. Thesis (25:03)
Lineup
Keisuke Takashima / Violin, Keyboards, Bass synth, Percussion
Takeya Kito / Keyboards
Hiroyuki Ito / Bass
Yusuke Seki / Drums
Purchase the album here: https://diskunion.net/jp/ct/detail/1008932079
1 thought on “[Review] ptf – Ambiguous Fragile Sign”