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TWISTED ILLUSION are back with a glorious new album, Upstairs to Optimism, which arrives on Friday 28th April. The critically acclaimed prog unit have also unveiled a captivating new single and video, Totality, out now – https://youtu.be/XmfqoiFsyW8
TWISTED ILLUSION’s creative output is both prolific and exemplary. Since their formation in 2013, the highly-rated progsters have unleashed 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 unrelenting rock crew have reworked multiple albums and versions as unique Bandcamp releases, and have backed each album with multiple videos . With this continual blitz of quality releases, the group’s following is also constantly increasing, with a slew of new fans amassing 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 consummate 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 exploits, and now the two both contribute heavily to the songwriting and production of the band’s endeavors.
This year, TWISTED ILLUSION are braced to release their best work to date. The band’s fifth album, Upstairs to Optimism, is stacked with everything you should expect from TI – enthralling guitar work, energetic drums, ultra-attentive structures, and soaring 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 elaborates: “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, as 2023 promises to be a huge year for TWISTED ILLUSION.
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.
Pre- Save ‘Upstairs To Optimism’ – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/twistedillusion/upstairs-to-optimism
