Imagination School is a group that is primarily made up of Laurence Harwood. In 2008, the debut album, To The Level Of Light was released. With 9 tracks that make up the album, primarily an instrumental album with one of the tracks “Temporal” (5:10) features vocals by Suzi Hicks.
The entire album has a dreamy, ‘post-rock‘ combined with a cinematic touch. It plays like a soundtrack to a movie of your choosing. You just close your eyes, wearing your favorite headphones is the best way to experience the beauty of the music. The songs flow endlessly between another making it important to take about 45 minutes from your daily activities to experience this album.
Besides the song “Temporal”, I find “Firmament” (4:48) and “Impossible” (8:08) to be personal highlights of the album, To The Level Of Light. There also seems to be a recurring themes from the beginning until the end especially in these three tracks.
To give you an idea of where Imagination School fits in the grand scheme of things, and similar qualities include Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, most of the artists on Kscope Records, a Polish band called Lebowski and at times, Goblin (but not as dark sounding).
This is one of those albums that you need to experience for yourself as it’s very rewarding and when it’s done you find yourself hitting the repeat button. If you’re a fan of the afore mentioned bands and the post-rock genre, then To The Level Of Light is something you should purchase (from the band if possible). This is a very recommended release.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on August 15th, 2011
