A beautiful and quintessentially British Prog Rock album.

Multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones is back with a brand new album. His new release is once again based upon a theme and this time the songs are set around the myths and legends of the winter. Many diverse subjects and cultures such as Native American Gods, Norse and English mythology are used during the songs and Jones once again serves up a beautiful and quintessentially British Prog Rock album.

Bookended by the two short interludes, 'Winter Is Coming' and 'Winters End', 'The Depths Of Winter' really begins with the opus entitled 'Winter Maker' and its musical themes resonate throughout this release. The song tells of the Native American wind spirit Biboon or Ojibwe who causes winter to come and how the Indians must appease him with their prayers so that the cold will not kill them all. 'The Ballad Of Longshanks John' sets out the story of what happened to Little John during the winter solstice after the death of Robin Hood. The song is beautifully arranged and the lyrics are both fascinating and engaging as they retell this legend in a new and fresh way.

'Sleigh Ride' is a real hats-off instrumental to Steve Hackett with some wonderful guitar work from Jones. 'The Tears Of Frigga' tells of the death of the Norse God Baldur (check out the story for yourselves, it's very interesting) and throughout this song Jones uses his musical skill brilliantly to tell the story. Lastly, there is 'Hygge' which informs us all that as dark as winter is, spring will soon come, and the year will begin again with life returning to the land.

Put simply, 'The Depths Of Winter' is a stunning album of British Prog Rock. Jones is a writer and musician that we should treasure because he has the ability to write songs with interesting and dynamic stories that draw you in and refuse to let you go when they are done. This is another wonderful album from Tiger Moth Tales.

Ian Johnson