Steve Tilling is a British multi-instrumentalist whose recent release "Circu5" was five years in the making. The album is composed of twelve tracks and features a plethora of guest performers to round it out.  Tilling describes this release as mirroring his life while working on it. "There were dark times, but everything ended positively. I wanted to make an album that's fun to listen to but has a good story for those who like to dig deeper." "Circu5" comes in with listening time of about 50 minutes.

The opening track, "Coming Home", comes in low with the undeniable feeling of sadness. The vocals come in and the track gets a bit of a lighter feeling. The vocals are clean and soft. The guitars are simple, but amazingly composed. The outro to this tiny two-minute track perfectly flows into track two, "My Degenerate Mind".

"Stars", track three, comes in quite Progressively then evens out a bit with a very chunky bass. Of course, it's the epitome of a Progressive Rock track. The course is lighter and less chunky, where the bass kind of gets buried, but every now and then you can still just notice it and it's beautiful.

Track six, "Blame It On Me", comes in softly with nicely plucked guitars. It's a bit quicker than usual acoustics but the track quickly turns in to a heavier Rock track. It still has a laidback vibe that the rest of the album has come to have.
"The Amazing Monstrous Grady", track seven, comes in like a circus or carnival. Yes, now we get into the backbone of the album name "Circu5". I see you Tilling. Of course, the title of the track hints at its experience. The track fades out, then a much Rockier track emerges. The contrast is a nice departure from the rest of the album. This is the final track before we get into the five track 'story' at the end of the album. The bass and guitars in this track are plain and simple; kick ass. There are some Jazzy and Bluesy elements mixed with an insanely low bass line that keeps this track overly interesting.

"The Chosen One" epic expands over five tracks. The musical experience is completely different within these tracks. Each track takes you on the furthering journey of the chosen one. A couple of the stand out tracks are: "Transfiguration" and "Ascension". Musically, these two tracks keep you interested. There are no lulls and they are exceptionally composed.

Steve Tilling's "Circu5" is an alluring album. The vocals are soft, and maybe not as powerful as others before him, but still unique in their own right. The composition is stunning. There are a mix of elements throughout that keeps this album memorable. This is a softer Progressive Rock album through and through, so it will be something good for fans of something like QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE.