The title track and debut single from Yes's new album, "Aurora", is now out... well, it's out on 10 April and, as I write, it's 10 April in some parts of the world!
The first time I listened to "Aurora", I think I re-started it twice, trying to get my head around the playing with tempo and rhythm at the beginning of the piece, but the song soon grew on me. There are obvious similarities to "Cut from the Stars" here, with another night sky theme, putting the orchestra at the start and duelling guitar/keys solos at the end. I think it works well, fusing Howe's guitar playing and Davison's singing, with lots of instrumental variation, particularly from Downes and the orchestra.
It's quite a complex piece: it's not very long, but there's a lot going on from bar to bar. I've tried to map that out here as a guide. It's notable that the song only plays the chorus twice (two and a half times if we count the shortened orchestral version at the end). You would expect to have another chorus around 3:20, but the song veers into an instrumental section instead.
"Aurora" [Howe/Davison]
Lead vocals: Jon Davison
Guitar: Steve Howe
Keyboards: Geoff Downes
Bass: Billy Sherwood
Drums: Jay Schellen
Orchestra: Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Mastering Engineer, Mixing Engineer: Curtis Schwartz
Produced by Steve Howe
0:00 overture
0:53 intro
1:21 verse 1 “In a whisper…”
1:59 prechorus (version A) “Everything we see from inside…”
2:19 chorus “Aurora, astral light of the Earth…”
2:48 verse 2
3:08 prechorus (version B) “Through the gate of the great divide…”
3:23 instrumental section
4:13 transitional bit
4:22 verse 3
4:48 prechorus (version B) “On the border of the great divide…”
5:00 prechorus (version A) “Everything to be free inside…”
5:09 chorus
5:38 instrumental restatement and solos
6:58 chorus (orchestral version)
7:12 coda
