PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
TWISTED ILLUSION return with a magnificent new album, Upstairs to Optimism, out on Friday 28th April. The highly-rated prog combo have also released a stunning new single and video, Stay Your Course, out now. Watch the video, here – https://youtu.be/kujmQDPydZE .
TWISTED ILLUSION’s productivity is highly abundant and consummate. Formed in 2013, the much-revered progsters have dropped four studio full-length albums, which includes 2021’s trilogy, Excite The Light, and a fully re-recorded version of the band’s debut album, Temple Of Artifice, also released in 2021. The unstoppable rock crew have reworked multiple albums and versions as unique Bandcamp releases, and have backed each album with multiple videos . With this constant stream of quality releases, TWISTED ILLUSION have garnered critical acclaim from Prog Magazine, Powerplay Magazine, Classic Rock Magazine/Louder, and Great Music Stories, with the band undertaking a full-page feature with Classic Rock, and winning a much coveted Tracks of the Week position with Louder/Classic Rock. The group’s following is also continually expanding, with a flock of new fans building from the UK and Europe to North America. To date, the band have sold over five thousand physical albums directly to fans, in over twenty countries, and all without a record label or financial support.
TWISTED ILLUSION have had many forms, but accomplished songwriter and performer Matt Jones has been both the front man and driving force behind proceedings for some time. However, when fellow guitarist and collaborator Saxon Davids joined in 2018, it increasingly added to TI’s creative endeavors, and now the two both contribute heavily to the songwriting and production of the band’s output.
TWISTED ILLUSION are now primed to release their best work to date. The band’s fifth album, Upstairs to Optimism, is loaded with everything you should expect from TI – absorbing guitar work, energetic drums, super-focused structures, and anthemic vocal lines. Matt comments: “Upstairs is essentially Twisted Illusion’s lockdown album. The songs were born out of a need to reach out and address the subjects affecting us all at a time of global isolation. The songs are as bold as they are intimate and reflect a real collaborative atmosphere musically between me and Saxon”. Matt’s partner in crime, Saxon Davids expands: “For me, this album is my proudest achievement in TI, it’s the most collaborative Matt and I have been, and lyrically it’s our best and most intimate too… even with a song about a PlayStation character”. Further singles, videos, shows, and festivals are planned throughout the coming months, and TWISTED ILLUSION will just rise and rise.
Upstairs To Optimism track listing: 1) Analyse and Incentivise, 2) Gone Tomorrow (Crash Bandicoot’s Lament), 3) We Tried To Make It, 4) Identity, 5) Spotlight (Not Limelight), 6) Stay Your Course, 7) Tired, 8) Totality.
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TWISTED ILLUSION are: Matt Jones – Guitars/Vocals; Saxon Davids – Guitars/Vocals; Chris Jones – Bass/Vocals; Andy Gotteri – Keys; Alex Lacey – Drums.
Pre- Save ‘Upstairs To Optimism’ – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/twistedillusion/upstairs-to-optimism
