Roine Stolt, renowned singer/musician for bands like The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Agents of Mercy, Kaipa DC, as well as from his work with prog icon Jon Anderson and the new super group The Sea Within, released “Manifesto of an Alchemist” back in 2018 as Roine Stolt’s The Flower King. Yet, in the wake of the successful The Flower Kings Revisited shows, ultimately decided to return under this moniker again. In 2019, the band then released the opulent, highly 70’s influenced album “Waiting For Miracles” to great success, offering pure prog rock with boatloads of vintage keyboards, impressive drumming, long guitar solos and influences from such different bands as Pink Floyd, Vangelis, The Beatles, Cream, ABBA, King Crimson, Procol Harum, David Bowie, Utopia, ELO and Tomita. Only one year later, creative mastermind Roine Stolt and his current line-up consisting also of Hasse Fröberg, Zach Kamins, Jonas Reingold, and Mirko DeMaio have crafted a stunning brand-new record already, partially also due to the Covid-19-pandemic, as Stolt explains: “All shows and festivals were cancelled and the future didn’t really ‘unfold’ itself like we had hoped. To sit out the pandemic with no activities was not an option for us. We cannot be stopped by an evil virus. With members living in the USA, Italy, Austria and Sweden the only way was to use the magic of the ’net’ sending files and start building, what now became, a double album of 21 songs.” The 93 minutes long “Islands” features artwork by legendary artist Roger Dean (Yes, Uriah Heep etc.) and all trademark sounds and melodies, the band is known for. Expect something bold, bombastic and beautiful!
Starting as a teenage prodigy in the band Kaipa in 1974 and first releasing his music on the LP “Kaipa” (1975) via Decca, Stolt is a veteran with more than 200 recorded titles since the humble beginnings in the mid 70’s. Fast forward to the 90’s, the album “The Flower King” (1994) marked an important offering in his career since Roine played all instruments except for drums and the self-produced/self-financed effort rapidly propelled the Swedish guitarist into international prog stardom.
The band quickly gained momentum and was one of a handful of bands helping to revive the progressive rock scene worldwide. Roine has since collaborated with a host of legendary musicians across various projects, including his acclaimed 2015 album with Yes-legend Jon Anderson, progressive-rock supergroup Transatlantic alongside Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Pete Trewavas, and a year as bass player with Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. The Flower Kings however, has always felt like home for Roine and the other veteran players Jonas Reingold & Hasse Fröberg, and the new album “Islands” will feel like home for the band’s countless fans across the globe.
Islands is an excellent piece, like all the FK work. Thanks for all all the hard work and musicianship you delivered!