Based in Palermo, Italy, Homunculus Res is an often breezy group whose music harks back to the pop side of the '60s-'70s Canterbury sound and early Italian prog of the same era, with suitably retro elements but also the compositional complexity and production touches one would expect from a 21st century release on the Milan-based avant-prog AltrOck label. The Sicilian band centers around a core of musicians including guitarist/vocalist Dario D'Alessandro (who also plays keyboards), keyboardists David Di Giovanni and Federico Cardaci, drummer Daniele Di Giovanni, bassist Domenico Salamone, and flutist Dario Lo Cicero.

Ten years is a long time, especially in pop music, but waiting ten years to deliver an album is a clear sign that you're not all that interested in the pop game anyway. Such is the case with Peter Gabriel, who delivered Up in 2002, a decade after Us and four years after he announced its title. Perhaps appropriately, Up sounds like an album that was ten years in the making, revealing not just its pleasures but its intent very, very slowly. This is not an accessible record, nor is it easy to warm up to, which means that many may dismiss it upon a single listen or two, never giving it the time it demands in order to be understood (it does not help matters that the one attempt at a single is the ham-fisted, wrong-headed trash-TV "satire" "The Barry Williams Show," which feels utterly forced and out of place here, as if Geffen was pleading for anything resembling a single to add to the album).