Silverbeets bring the SoulPoP to the thrumtastic prog swirlathon  world they live and create in. This is their most layered and eclectic set ever and perhaps more importantly their most fun.

The whole jingle jangle rock opera starts with a single for the ages, ‘Smell The Roses’ coming out of the gate like Neil Young’s Crazy Horse, if they had been a swinging 60s beat/folk act from one of the ‘shires in England.

Then there’s that soul we mentioned, (You Gotta Risk It )but it’s all glow stick nostalgia, school disco, the sweetest funk, there is a reason dance music lasted as long as punk you know, it’s looking back with great affection, entranced once again by the innocence of the mirror ball shooting out sparks.

Gliding into ‘’ Siddhartha ‘’ we find ourselves in slightly more traditional Silverbeets territory, if indeed there is such a thing, after all the band thrives in pushing out into subtle new directions whenever they can.

Onto another personal favourite, the sweet and slight tension of ‘’Gravity’’ beautifully arranged, harmonies and guitar set at subliminal half whisper, sensual, we have left ‘ago’ and are back into the psychedelic modern, set your festival lighters to full flame.

After evoking the spirit of Mama Cass, (wry and delightful) in ‘’ Let’s Fall In Love For The Day ‘’ and grinning through the Floydian ‘’1 Lonely Brain’’ (those disco dancers have moved on and up into the come down tent) we shift into the harsher bright light of ‘’ Wicked Ways’’ and ‘’ Better’’ the former a  shiny shiny head banger, that pre ‘night at the opera’ Queen would approve of, and the latter plays against the lyrics to cause a disturbance in the force, a jagged mystery, enticing you back for another reveal.

We dare enter The Off centre and into ‘’ Mr Brown’s World Sized Prison Cell ‘’, a tune that showcases the inner struggle of our everyman title character, while showcasing the sheer musical adventure of this all. This is an album that hits you harder on 3^rd and 4^th listens, and all the more powerful for that. In other words it’s not obvious, and I kinda love that.

Then there are a trio of sharp jabs to the system starting with the abrasive Bolanism (via NIN) of ‘’ My Utopian Dystopia, ‘’ the eccentric post punk of ‘’Gather Around,’ and ‘’ Won’t You Join Us’’ which could have easily been a secret ‘hidden’ track from an unreleased Who concept album.

PS am the only one that finds the ghosts of Deep Purple and even Uriah Heep living in the grooves of the aptly named ‘’ Yesterday’s Tomorrow’’ ?

The album is wrapped up with the final ‘’ Art And Soul’’ taking us right into 2024, with that touch of soul again, a hint of alt country (Wilco) and something that is the Silverbeets’ very own ‘thing’. It’s something that digs deeper with every listen, and captures your mood and makes it, sometimes brighter, sometimes darker, but always more thoughtful.

You can buy this here https://thesilverbeets.bandcamp.com/album/mr-brown-goes-to-the-cabaret