9 Skies

Finally available again on a reissue. French progressive rock collective Nine Skies have been weaving together their rock, jazz, classical and progressive influences for a number of years now – combining their acoustic instrumentation with deep, poignant and poetic lyrics featuring characters from modern city life.Their second album, Sweetheart Grips, released in late 2019, was a dense, complex and often heartbreaking exploration of a young soldier's experiences in World War II. This latest release, 5.20, is still recognizably Nine Skies, but overall more introspective and tender. They retain the plaintive, melancholic vocals and lyrical content, but the music is almost entirely acoustic on this occasion, yet has a layered depth, complexity and richness, with intertwining acoustic guitar and piano, complemented by strings, flute, saxophone and rhythmic percussion.

Sturgill Simpson makes his long-awaited return to music this year with a new album under a new name, Johnny Blue Skies. After promising to release only five studio albums under his own name, Sturgill Simpson marks the beginning of a new era with Johnny Blue Skies and the release of Passage Du Desir. Released on his own independent label, High Top Mountain Records, the album includes eight songs produced by Johnny Blue Skies and David Ferguson and recorded at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville, TN and Abbey Road Studios in London, England.

Nine Skies are a French progressive rock band inspired by many influences: rock, pop, progressive, classical, jazz… The new album “5.20” is an acoustic opus including a string quator. It is released since the 4th of June 2021. Achraf El Asraoui (vocals, guitars) joined the band with this album. The personal poetry of “5.20” conjures up a dream beyond various horizons. This acoustic and very intimate opus takes us on a journey using the spellbinding charm of the string quartet, from the captivating melodies to mysterious and more introspective overtones of the album. Each moment suggests a reflection on both a universally human context and the emotional part specific to all of us: a renewed musical experience that gets more enriched with every listening of the album.

On May 18, AOP Records released the debut album "Blues For A Dying Planet" by the Swedish quintet Spiral Skies. We're honoured that swedish 70s rock music quintet Spiral Skies join forces with AOP Records. Spiral Skies was formed in Stockholm in spring 2014. Consisting of musicians with different musical influences they found themselves sharing the same passion for the 70´s genuine rock and heavy metal music, which led to a creative songwriting progress that developed into something that can only be described as “On other planets kinda rock”. An unique blend of folk, doom and 70s rock music. The band has been compared to band such as Jefferson Airplane, Curved Air and The Devil's Blood, to name a few. The band has spellbound their audience with their unique visual performance with intense and enchanting live shows.

Nine Skies are a French progressive rock band inspired by many influences: rock, pop, progressive, classical, jazz… The first album “Return Home” was released on the 30th November 2017 via Anesthetize Productions. The album relates, through the eyes of the protagonist, the lives of different characters from a contemporary big city. Sometimes metaphorical, sometimes particularly realistic, these different existences show the absurdities of our current world and the way we learn to live with our sufferings. The diversity of the bands influences allow to express vatious feelings while preserving the coherence of this modern musical tale.

White Skies is a UK based AOR band formed by former Samson/First Strike vocalist Mick White, former Ya Ya guitarist Ray Callcut and former Double Cross/Dante Fox keyboard player Pete Lakin. Just prior to the start of the pandemic in 2020, Mick and Ray (who were old friends from the eighties) had discussed the idea of writing a pure AOR album very much in the style of the giants of the genre like Journey, Foreigner and Toto.