YES, who are Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen, last week (May 19) released their new studio album MIRROR TO THE SKY to glowing reviews on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music and today (May 24) have unveiled an eye-catching animated lyric video for the album’s evocative closing track “Circles of Time.” Watch it HERE.
Ultimate Classic Rock raved that “Mirror in the Sky breezes from one musical highlight to the next so deftly that you're wanting more.” (May 17). Glide Magazine observed that “Mirror to the Sky” succeeds at proving the idea that Yes music will carry on long after the original members pass in a very special way. As the producer of this twenty-third studio album, [Steve] Howe has stepped in and helped create a soundscape in the vein of their classic material.” (May 18). Guitar World noted that “There’s a lot of classic prog keyboard and guitar interplay across “Cut From The Stars,’ but there’s lovely stuff from about 4.30 where Steve Howe and Geoff Downes exchange melodic pot shots.” (3/16).
Elsewhere, Vintage Rock singled out “Circles of Time,” noting how it “comprises a sweet vocal, acoustic guitar, and spare keys, reminiscent of the softer side of what Yes has always been about” (May 18). Rock Cellar summed up the album by writing that Mirror to the Sky finds Yes at its most inspired and fleshed-out, the musicians totally confident in their collective artistic vision—one that takes typically unexpected shifts in tempo, structure and form, sometimes eschewing them altogether in search of something deeper and undeniably epic.” (May 19).
“This is a very important album for the band,” says Steve Howe, YES’ longest serving member, master guitarist, and producer of MIRROR TO THE SKY. “We kept the continuity in the approach we established on The Quest, but we haven’t repeated ourselves. That was the main thing. As Yes did in the seventies from one album to another, we’re growing and moving forward. In later years, Yes often got going but then didn’t do the next thing. This album is demonstrative of us growing, and building again.”
For YES, that “next thing” is a collection of high energy, intricate, lush and layered new studio songs for an album which adds to the band’s much heralded legacy, while charting a path to exciting future times ahead.
Watch the previously released video for “All Connected” HERE and the one for “Cut From The Stars,” the album’s first single, HERE.
MIRROR TO THE SKY is available on several formats, all featuring artwork by long-time YES artist & collaborator Roger Dean:
Ltd Deluxe Electric Blue 2LP+2CD+Blu-ray Artbook with poster
Ltd Deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook
Ltd 2CD Digipak
Standard CD Jewel case
Gatefold 2LP+LP-Booklet
Digital Album
The blu-ray editions include the album as Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound, Instrumental Versions & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes.
