3.5 out of 5 Stars!

From France, Gepetto is a new group that plays Prog-Rock of a less-demanding nature. In other words, don’t expect to hear numerous changes in time signatures throughout every track, or mile-a-minute guitar or keyboard solos bursting to the fore, or even highly complex song arrangements or dense instrumentation.

Instead, Gepetto’s music is generally laid-back and easily accessible Prog-Rock, songs with melodies of a lighter nature, lush keyboard washes (including Mellotron) and synth leads, with both melodic electric and acoustic guitar riffs over straight-forward and solid rhythms. It’s all rather pretty, somewhat “spacey” in places, with lyrics sung in both English and French. Indeed, for me, the cover art perfectly conveys the overall feeling of the music…gentle, breezy, fresh, and somewhat ethereal, similar in many ways to Steve Hogarth-era Marillion.

One note of caution, however…the vocals may be an acquired taste for some of the more demanding listeners. The singer has a rather lazy approach overall, being “less accurate” when it comes to striking precise notes or delivering some of his lines on the actual beat. As I said, it’s a “lazy approach,” which is not too horribly off-putting, but it does take some getting used to and is a bit unique when it comes to this style of Prog-Rock.