“Island Poetry,” Mad Painter’s new album, is a 12-song rock record that shines with strong musicianship, classic influences, and a clear sense of character. Alex Gitlin created the album, which features Hammond organ, electric guitar, piano, bass, drums, and layered vocals for a full sound that spans different sides of rock.

The album opens with “Debt Collector,” a Deep Purple-inspired track that gives it instant weight and drive, while “Empty Bottles” is pure rock territory, with all the energy that comes with Status Quo. Then “Spin Your Ventilator” gets a bit more rocking with the side power of AC/DC, while “Suit Of Worries” returns to a heavier Deep Purple sound, with a more tense, dramatic feel.

The album never strays from its rock roots, but it keeps changing gears. Rainbow-inspired “You Dreamed I Was In Love” adds a different sort of melodic, dramatic color to the record. Followed by “Nektarized,” a space-disco diversion under the influence of Ganymed, one of the album’s odder turns. Queen’s theatrical sweep continues, and “Shadow of the Words” adds even more drama. Guitars feature heavily in “Two Horsemen,” with dual guitar textures reminiscent of Wishbone Ash.

“I Am The King” shifts mood again and draws on the Moody Blues, showing how Mad Painter soaks up its influences without getting mired in the same style. “Stand Your Ground” chooses the harder road, throwing in the speed and aggression of Motörhead. Something about “Tommy Lost It All” feels different from the rest, as it builds on Mad Painter’s established sound, making it more a statement of the band’s identity than a reference point.

The album closes with Mad Painter’s take on the Uriah Heep classic, “Circle Of Hands.” Gitlin’s songwriting on “Island Poetry” is aided by Al Hendry on drums, Kenne Highland on bass, Al Naha on guitar, and backing vocalists Sharon Crumrine and Julie Gee. Six tracks also feature lyrics from writer and music journalist Dmitry M. Epstein, who brings humor, character, and dramatic imagery. The result is a rock album that honors its influences but gives each song its own space in the journey.

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In a world of notifications and automated responses, algorithms, and feedback requests, Cognitive Constellation Corps finds something unexpectedly human inside the machinery. “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” is an alt-pop exploration of connection, isolation, communication, and the increasingly complicated relationship between people and technology, transforming familiar procedural language into something else.

Created by Brooke Tamsin Clevenger, a Belfast-based artist, the project’s principal composer, lyricist, producer, and conceptual director, the album is deliberately constructed around what happens to human emotion when our lives are increasingly structured by systems that process information rather than necessarily understand feelings. The album opens with “Opening Loop (i),” which introduces that world through the idea of repetition, linking software loops to the habits we humans learn in modern life.

Followed by “Signal Received (i),” the track becomes more fragile, a mix of bubbling electronic movement and the promise of waiting for a response. It picks up the strange emotional weight that can be behind something as simple as a digital signal. “Thank You For Your Feedback (i)” examines the pressure to be constantly evaluated, and “Echo Chamber (i)” reflects on how digital interaction creates intimacy and amplifies alienation. “The Curve of Clarity (i)” is a road toward understanding where data and human realization begin to converge.

On the production side, the project explores electronic textures without allowing its technological concept to overwhelm its emotional core. “Threadbare, Threadshare (i)” turns the fatigue of constant communication into an interesting concept. “The Response Loop (You’re Still Talking)” injects a sense of urgency with a faster, more club-friendly beat that mixes early-80s electronic music with state-of-the-art sounds.

“Harmonic Distortion (i)” continues the album’s obsession with emotion that has been filtered, and “Always (i) [Sevahem]” is an appropriate closer, reflecting on organic feeling and ancient human knowledge through the prism of digital sound. “Thank you for Your Feedback” is a tech-driven concept that is always aware of the person behind the screen. Cognitive Constellation Corps is cerebral and electronic and conceptually ambitious while remaining emotionally accessible.

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