It has been a long time that I was able to listen to so many new releases in a row as I did in the last couple of months. The enforced shutdown made it possible. And I found some musical gems - A Day At The Beach is definitely one of them! I would even go further and state that A Day At The Beach is the most beautiful Prog album in 2020, although we are just midway and a mass ejection of record releases is to expect at the end of the year.
A Day At The Beach is the fifth full-length of Norwegian Prog Rock luminaries AIRBAG. Some might remember them snubbed as Pink Floyd clones. I actually criticized them myself for their plagiarizing closeness to Pink Floyd and Anathema when reviewing All Rights Removed.

The influence of the prog gods is still omnipresent. Especially the "mechanical" character of Welcome To The Machine seemed to have left its impact on the songwriting process of A Day At The Beach. Also Anathema shine through every note once again, this time with a leaning towards Judgement (it was Alternative 4 on All Rights Removed). AIRBAG are somewhat of the counterpart to the Liverpudlian. The extended instrumental end of Into The Unknown sounds very much like 2000 & Gone and the voice of Asle Tostrup could not be closer to Vincent Cavanagh, including the croon.
At Sunsets again I get so strongly reminded of Simple Mind's Good News From The Next World that I expect to hear Jim Kerr singing. From them the distinctive bass lines seem to be inspired.
Additionally, Post Rock nuances enrich the compositions and let me think of If These Trees Could Talk, especially at A Day At The Beach (Part 2). Well, it is known that I fall for that kind of guitar work ;)
So, it is all again pinched and half-inched? Not at all!
Despite the strong and clear influences, AIRBAG meanwhile add their very own flavor to the music. Much more, they manage to melt and combine all those elements to beautiful euphony. The songs are driving yet rather relaxed but filled with melancholy. An elegy of sorrow as the album tells the story of a man, husband, father and brother, leaving his family to venture into the unknown. Though a summerly transfiguration always resonates too. Guitars can be harsh at points and often indulge in long instrumental passages but never lose themselves in technical prestidigitation.
To point out tracks for recommendation, it would be the opening Machines And Men that enfolds to a 10 minutes running monolith, combining all strengths and styles the band is about. To make it a bit shorter, the zippy Sunsets would do great too.
A Day At The Beach sounds like a dream location, a place to be, perfectly made to escape from the choke-hold of a certain virus. Album of the summer 2020!