Acclaimed excursions apart, English prog-rock stalwarts Camel appear to have known as it quits within the studio following the discharge of their 2002 album, A Nod And A Wink. If this actually is it for brand spanking new albums from the band, they’ve left an enviable physique of labor of their wake. Main lights of the prog motion, they scaled vital and industrial peaks within the mid-70s with their legendary, silver-selling opuses The Snow Goose and Moonmadness, however they’ve additionally demonstrated an enviable resilience ever since. Surviving the tsunami of punk, the group went on to attain transatlantic chart success with LPs comparable to Rain Dances, Breathless, and 1981’s Nude, however launched into a prolonged hiatus after their Decca contract led to 1984: an occasion which prompted prime mover Andy Latimer and spouse/lyricist Susan Hoover’s relocation to California.
Camel’s absence was broadly lamented within the interim, with main lights of the 80s neo-prog scene (amongst them Marillion, Pallas, and Pendragon) all enthusiastically citing the group as an affect. After Latimer shaped his personal Camel Productions imprint, nonetheless, his band returned with 1991’s acclaimed Mud And Goals, straight impressed by John Steinbeck’s traditional novel The Grapes Of Wrath.
Regardless of a succession of personnel adjustments, Camel soldiered on, crafting two additional critically hailed LPs in the course of the 90s. The emotional Harbour Of Tears (1996) was primarily based upon the devastating Nineteenth-century Irish potato famine – which straight affected Latimer’s antecedents – whereas ’99’s Rajaz was an formidable idea LP that includes songs primarily based upon the rhythm of camels’ footsteps as they crossed the desert carrying weary vacationers.
Launched on July 19, 2002, A Nod And A Wink was influenced by occasions nearer to house – most particularly the passing of unique keyboardist Peter Bardens, who performed a key function in shaping Camel’s first six studio LPs. Accordingly, a lot of the document’s content material was reflective and nostalgic. The opening title monitor and the heartfelt “A Boy’s Life” each referenced childhood desires and youthful idealism; choral and woodwind textures delicately embellished the autumnal “The Miller’s Tale,” whereas loss and longing solid a palpable shadow over the swish, Moody Blues-esque “Simple Pleasures.”
A Nod And A Wink was recorded by the nucleus of the present-day Camel line-up, with long-term bassist Colin Bass and drummer Denis Clement joined by proficient Canadian keyboardist Man LeBlanc, who sadly handed away throughout 2015. Latimer led from the entrance, handing over emotional vocal performances all through and excelling on lead guitar, to not point out embroidering “Fox Hill,” “Squigely Fair” and the stressed, ever-shifting, 11-minute titular music along with his jazzy, Bryter Layter-esque flute. Collectively, his troops additionally demonstrated their immense dexterity, whether or not traversing “A Nod And A Wink”s myriad moods, driving “A Boy’s Life” to dizzying symphonic heights or exhibiting admirable restraint on the hymnal, closing “For Today.”
Theoretically, A Nod And A Wink ought to have opened an entire new chapter for Camel, however whereas Andy Latimer returned to England in 2006, his subsequent well being points have since hampered the band’s progress. Fortunately, although, they just lately performed a collection of rapturously acquired Japanese dates with new keyboardist Pete Jones and, as Latimer is rumored to have stockpiled a wealth of recent materials, it seems odds on that Camel will quickly be again in prepare.
