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rising again to use every musician at hand to create a massive soundscape of a chorus, a chorus that gets slightly more impressive every time its visited. Bodhran's, flutes and recorders all add to this magical Renaissance meets modern mix and Josh's guitar still manages to steal the show in his play out.

"Never the Rainbow" is the most immediate song on the album, it is the most commercial and therefore by definition it is the least representative. But that is not to say that there is anything to fault it, it's just the band moving the boundaries slightly. Hammond organ backs a driven rock guitar sound and with Heather Findlay taking the lead, this song seems reminiscent of Pat Benatar with its uncharacteristically straightforward nature and less progressive structure. As if to show case the two extremes of the band "Shrinking Violet" another Findlay song is almost medieval in nature. Simple guitar work, baroque recorders and a wave of glorious harmonies are all that are offered up, and shows that the band can handle both the subtleties of the less is more style as well as the full on rock and roll delivery. Two instrumentals follow a feature that they use often on their albums as both singers are also multi-instrumentalists and therefore even when no vocals are needed, everyone still has a part to play.

The final song "Mother Nature" reinforces their pagan credentials a sweeping cry of emotion in the name of the spirit of the land, ever building to a dramatic and climactic finish. All the usual ingredients are in place, rich texture of layered vocals over big guitar sounds and flutes and keyboards weaving through the gaps. Building from a folk standpoint it suddenly changes its beat and launches into pure rock to close the album in a style not a million miles away from Marillion, remember them?

Mostly Autumn will appeal to a number of niche markets, progressive fans will appreciate the complexities of the songs and guitar work, folkies will like the subtler moments and the great harmonies and Pagans will love the lyrics and the overall love of the land that oozes from the album. There is an obvious reference point which is always used to try to describe the band, but I promised myself that I wouldn't mention Pink Floyd.damn.

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