Some bands just need to get their feet wet before their confidence soars. I love watching that happen. The new Edenya album sees the band starting to realize their potential, and even try out some things that surprised me. The record is called The Secret Destination You Are Looking For, and it released back on August 17th.
Edenya come to us from France. I first heard them on 2023’s Another Place, and I was struck by their strong melodies and powerful guitars. The band is being fleshed out, so to speak, moving from a duo to a full band now. The current lineup is Marco on guitars, keyboard, piano, and programming, Ingrid Denis on vocals, Juliette Carradec on violin, Jean-Paul Cartigny on bass, and Sylvie Sj on drums and djembe.
The band plays progressive rock with heightened emotions and ever-present melodies. Folk music is a major element, too, mostly in the percussion and consistent use of violin to serenade our ears. So, yes, this is styled like “neo-prog” to some extent, but the flourishing strings and ambience take it to someplace different.
And there’s just something about this album. The first four tracks are much like their previous music, solid and beautifully played. I particularly like the guitar-heavy, violin-seared “The Outing” that is both gorgeous and rocks pretty hard. The opener “Back from the Endless Seas” is also wonderful with its floating, atmospheric sound that promises serenity to come, and “Little Girl” is very pretty in its acoustic musings. And even though I don’t like the stilted chorus much on “Foreign Ground”, the incredible instrumental in the second half saves it.
However, when the title track hits, the album becomes something new. This piece isn’t quite progressive rock. It’s not post-rock or ambient music, though those things exist within its fold. No, this atmospheric rock is hovering, abstract, and full of harmony. The ten-minute song reminds me of Hackett in some ways with its folk twists and percussive textures. It’s amazing.
The rest of the album follows suit for the most part. “Flying Dream” is an elegant and subtly cinematic piece that I love. “Princess of Light” is even more so, only it brings in the strong guitars and feels quite eventful for a short track. Then, for the third three-minute track in a row, “Like a Falling Leaf” offers a pure and unadulterated instrumental that is exquisitely beautiful and honestly unforgettable. This trio is quite strong.
Those three tracks lead into the ten-minute “My Burden”, which feels like a mini-epic in some ways. It is full of ambient and emotional segments, transitions from place to place, and features plenty of contrasting heavy and quiet moments. It is wonderful. The closer “Lady” is another three-minute acoustic beauty with fleeting vocals, nuanced emotions, and this feeling that you want to start the album again immediately.
I think Secret Destination has a genius structure. I love the way the album offers fully realized shorter tracks, but also longer, more complex songs that hit even harder because of the array of sounds around them. Regardless, the terrific vocals, powerhouse guitars, and elegant violin, not to mention the rock solid rhythm section, are the pieces that become something special together. Edenya has upped their game and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.
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The PROG Mind 