When a young band calls itself “Hejira” and then explains that it was only in part inspired by Joni Mitchell’s masterpiece in 1976 and that “Hejira” also means escape or journey to better place in Arabic, this is quite a statement. And, when this band is enraptured by the virtuosity of half-forgotten prog rock luminaries like Focus, Yes and ELP whilst invoking a proximity to post-rock darlings like The Invisible, who were guests at Enjoy Jazz in 2009, then this is a rather idiosyncratic profile. The ambitioned debut album “Prayer Before Birth” was produced in 2013 by Matthew Herbert at the band’s own studio “House of Dreams” and was everything else but “retro”, and also getting British critiques such as “As if Talk Talk is jamming with Fairport Convention under the supervision of Radiohead”. The singer also stirs up memories of Kate Bush! Hejira also had the unconventional idea of sparing themselves the touring to a large extent and to instead hold regular club nights titled “TRAUM” in London to which they invite other musicians and DJs. Waywardness can be so refreshing!
