British producer/songwriter
Jem Godfrey is known for his work with commercial popsters like
Atomic Kitten,
Holly Valance,
Cherie, and the all-female Swedish group
Play; he has a long list of Top 40 and dance-pop credits on his résumé. But
Godfrey's band
Frost* doesn't sound anything like the aforementioned artists. Frequently hard-rocking but usually moody, introspective, and melancholy,
Frost's second full-length album,
Experiments in Mass Appeal, definitely won't be mistaken for glossy, escapist dance-pop.
Frost* have often been described as "neo-prog," which isn't misleading but doesn't quite tell the whole story, either.
Experiments in Mass Appeal is best described as a mixture of alternative pop/rock and progressive rock; there is a prog element on gloomy tracks such as "Saline," "Welcome to Nowhere," and "Falling Down," but alternative pop/rock is really the album's main ingredient. This 2008 release never makes a conscious effort to emulate
Pink Floyd,
Yes,
Genesis,
Rush,
King Crimson, or any other progressive rockers who were big in the 1970s;
Experiments in Mass Appeal is an album that could only come about in a post-
Nevermind, post-
Kurt Cobain world. So if one is going to call
Frost*'s brooding work "neo-prog," it is important to understand that alternative is the "neo" part. Given that
Frost* are such a departure from all the slick dance-pop that
Godfrey has produced and/or written, it is clear that he was being very ironic when he called this album
Experiments in Mass Appeal -- and even though this type of material isn't without commercial appeal (alternative pop/rock artists have been enjoying mainstream status and headlining huge soccer stadiums for a long time),
Frost* aren't blatantly commercial in the way that
Atomic Kitten and
Valance are blatantly commercial.
Experiments in Mass Appeal is mildly uneven; some of the songs work better than others. But all things considered,
Godfrey does a decent job of showing listeners what he has to offer when he unites alternative pop/rock with elements of progressive rock.