A new Gong album that feels spiritual, hypnotic and deeply alive
There are some albums that win you over with force, and others that seem to drift towards you, slowly but surely, until you realise you are completely inside their world. Bright Spirit, the new album by Gong, does exactly that.
I have to be honest about how I approached this one. I didn’t sit down and research every era, lineup and variation of Gong before pressing play. I took this album completely at face value. I wanted to hear it for what it is, rather than what it is supposed to represent in the wider history of the band. Coming to it that way felt right, and the result is an album that I found immersive, uplifting, occasionally mysterious and thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
My own relationship with Gong goes back a long way. I remember buying that first album for 59p, then following the band through the more jazz-fusion leaning mid-70s material before gradually losing touch. I suppose I drifted more into the Steve Hillage camp over time. So hearing Bright Spirit was both a fresh encounter and, at moments, a strangely comforting one. It feels like an album made by musicians who understand exactly what the spirit of Gong should sound like, without turning it into a museum piece.
This current line-up features Ian East on saxophones, zurna, woodwinds and percussion, Fabio Golfetti on glissando guitar, guitar and vocals, Cheb Nettles on drums, percussion and vocals, Dave Sturt on bass, ebow bass and vocals, and Kavus Torabi on vocals and electric and acoustic guitars. The lyrics are credited to Kavus Torabi, and there is a real sense throughout the album of a lyrical and musical world that is both grounded and otherworldly at the same time.
The album opens with “Dream of Mine”, and it is a superb way to begin. There is an unmistakable Eastern flavour running through it — Persian, Egyptian, mystical, hypnotic. It immediately put me in mind of the kind of circular, trance-like riffing you associate with Steve Hillage, and there are moments here where the music just locks into that spellbinding groove and you almost don’t want it to move on. The production is excellent, and there is that classic Gong quality of shifting the listener’s sense of direction through key changes and tonal movement. It feels ethereal, spiritual and beautifully performed.
The instrumental “Mantle” follows, and this is where the album really shows how broad its musical range can be. It begins with fast-picked guitar that again hints at Hillage, but then moves into something more fusion-based, exotic and rhythmically adventurous. Just when you think you understand where it is heading, the track throws in a far heavier, stop-start riff section that feels almost modern metal in character. Then it opens back out again into spacey guitar passages, keyboard textures and saxophone lines that bring the music firmly back into Gong territory. It is a thrilling piece, full of movement and colour.
“The Wonderment” is another standout. This one begins with a very progressive keyboard introduction, all sequenced patterns and shifting textures, before unfolding into something soft, floating and deeply dreamy. There is very little percussion driving it forward, which gives it a suspended, almost weightless quality. Layers of sound drift in and out of one another, and the high-pitched keyboard motifs feel absolutely right for this kind of music. There is also a wonderfully fluid guitar solo that simply glides through the track. It is one of those moments where the album seems to hover rather than play.
Turn the record over and “Stars in Heaven” continues the album’s spiritual thread. There is a line here about every breath being a miracle, and that gives you some idea of the tone of the piece. The vocals have a devotional, almost celestial quality, supported by lovely harmonies. Musically, I found myself thinking of Wishbone Ash — not in the direct sense of the guitar playing, but in the feel of the composition. There is something about the structure and flow of the song that recalls that mid-70s melodic rock atmosphere. It is gentle, thoughtful and quietly powerful.
“A Fragrance of Paradise” returns to the Eastern and mystical atmosphere that runs through so much of the album. The zurna gives the track a striking, almost ancient quality, and the whole thing feels soaked in spiritual imagery. The vocal treatment is pure Gong in feel, and again I found those familiar touchstones surfacing — not because the band are playing it safe, but because they clearly understand what needs to be in the mix for Gong to sound like Gong. There is a lovely circular riff at the heart of this one, deeply comforting and hypnotic, before the piece shifts into something more aggressive and rocky and then drifts back into its mystical mood once more.
“Relish the Possibility” floats in on a percussive backdrop with flutes, soft vocals and meditative layers of guitars and keyboards. By this point in the album, you are fully inside its atmosphere. Repeated keyboard motifs and subtle rhythmic patterns create a feeling of reflection and stillness. It is not music that shouts for attention. It draws you in quietly and keeps rewarding you the more you listen.
The closing track, “Eternal Hand”, is a dreamy epic rich in lyrical imagery — goddesses, feminine spirits, storms, protection, transcendence. It feels as though all the album’s themes come together here. There is a lot going on lyrically, and musically it builds in a way that made me expect an even bigger dramatic release towards the end — perhaps an instrumental climax or a solo that would lift the track into another dimension. That moment never quite arrives, and that was the one point on the whole album where I felt it held back slightly from what it might have become. But even then, it is still a strong and evocative ending to a very fine record.
What I like most about Bright Spirit is that it does not feel like a band trying to recreate a past glory. It feels alive. It understands its own lineage, but it is not trapped by it. The Eastern scales, the circular riffs, the floating vocals, the time changes, the fusion elements, the gentle mysticism — it all works because it feels natural rather than calculated.
This is a genuinely rewarding album. If you already love Gong, there is much here that will feel familiar in the best possible way. And if, like me, you have drifted in and out of the band’s long history over the years, this feels like a very inviting place to reconnect. It is spiritual, progressive, hypnotic and beautifully played.
ORDER FROM THE NOW SPINNING MAGAZINE MUsIC STORE
Highly recommended.
