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The band Radio Massacre International is the convergence of three sharp minds - each with lots to say. Throughout their superb Rain Falls in Grey (59:57) Steve Dinsdale, Duncan Goddard and Gary Houghton (plus periodically reedman Martin Archer) show us all the ways one can be a musician - and all the ways one can be a human. Affected by the 2006 passing of the legendary Syd Barrett RMI were moved to reconnect to the pure motives that drove their greatest work. Showing confidence in the validity of this fascination the trio found a fresh pathway into a familiar sonic escapism. While referencing the classics Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Dominé they hold an intermediary place between Prog-Rock and Kosmische Musik, yet manage to avoid reading the present into the past. Following their intuition they have realized something close to a supernatural shadow come to life. Playing blissfully, scarily free of guidance, across seven tracks Rain Falls in Grey provides the confrontations of beauty, tenderness and strangeness well known to the dedicated RMI fan. When we feel the heat, we hear the light. Tinged by dissonance to one degree or another soon a dancing drive powers the music along cosmic coordinates. Rock drumming works with electric bass to support surging guitar leads and chords, with roaming free reeds warming and warping the upper regions. The vibrant phrasing, bold colors and air of spontaneous excitement build to sonorities so monumental that this outfit magically approaches the innovations of sixties era Pink Floyd. As radiant climaxes resolve in spells of shivering inwardness, the weight of the sound dissipates in a satisfying temporality. Concluding its traversal of the spaceways Rain Falls in Grey halts the procession to reflect with a ballad for synths and steel strings - something quietly heroic, subtle and confiding for the rest of us weary dreamers.
Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END - 3 July 2025
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